suspecter

Forms

suspecter^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed between a French formation and a Latin borrowing.^[2][3][4] It is either formed from French suspect + -er,^[2][3][5][6] or it is borrowed from Latin suspectō (“to look up at, to suspect”),^[2][3][4][1] a frequentative of suspiciō (“to look up at”) built on its participle suspectus.^[4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give only the French derivation.^[5][6] Littré compares Old Occitan sospechar, Spanish sospechar, Catalan suspitar, Portuguese sospeitar and Italian sospettare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Pierre Desrey's Mer des chroniques (1532), with the sense “to hold someone suspect”;^[2] the Grand Robert, the GLLF and the DHLF give 1515 for the same author,^[5][4][3] and the Petit Robert about 1500.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare at first and was taken up again in 1726, when Desfontaines's Dictionnaire néologique listed it as a term of the law courts.^[2][4][3] It was still rare in the 18th century.^[2] The construction with de for the thing a person is suspected of is recorded in 1788 by Féraud,^[2][4] or in 1780 according to the DHLF.^[3] With a thing as object, “to call into doubt”, it is found in 1783 according to the TLFi^[2] and is recorded by the Académie in 1798;^[4][5] the use for doubting the reality of a feeling or a good intention dates from before 1850 (Balzac).^[3][4] The verb is more pejorative than soupçonner: it marks a distrust that the subject holds to be justified.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1515 – First record, in Pierre Desrey, according to the Grand Robert and the DHLF.^[5][3]
• 1532 – The TLFi's first record, in the Mer des chroniques.^[2]
• 1726 – The Dictionnaire néologique records it as a legal term.^[2][4]
• 1783 – It is used with a thing as object.^[2]
• 1788 – Féraud records suspecter quelqu'un de.^[2][4]
• 1798 – The Académie records it with a thing as object.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To suspect someone, to hold someone suspect, believing them guilty: La police suspecte le gardien.^[6][4][2]
2. Suspecter quelqu'un de quelque chose: to suspect someone of something: On le suspecte d'espionnage.^[6][4][2]
3. To call something into doubt, to question a quality or intention: suspecter la sincérité d'un ami.^[6][4][2]
4. (reflexive) To suspect one another.^[6]

Related words

• suspect
• soupçonner
• soupçon
• suspicion
• Latin suspectō

Usage notes

Suspecter is clearly more pejorative than soupçonner.^[6][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette