user

Forms

user^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ūsō (“to use”), a Late Latin verb recorded in the 8th century, derived from ūsus, the past participle of ūtor (“to make use of, to deal with, to enjoy”).^[2][3][4][5] Rey calls the French verb a borrowing from the Latin one, while the TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and Wiktionary treat it as inherited; he adds that the Latin verb has no known etymology.^[6][2][1]

Cognate with Italian usare, Spanish usar, Portuguese usar, Catalan usar and Old Occitan usar.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means to spend one's time, to live out one's days: Il est mult vielz, si ad sun tens uset (“he is very old and has spent his time”).^[2][8][6]

Semantic evolution

The first senses, “to spend one's time” and “to exhaust it”, already hold the two branches of the word, use and wear.^[6] In the first, user meant to make use of something, at first with a direct object (about 1135, food), a construction now lost, then in user de (13th century).^[2][6] It also meant to practise a trade (about 1155) and to take something habitually (about 1165).^[6] Senses such as “to behave” (1260) died out in the 16th century, leaving only en user avec quelqu'un “to deal with someone in a certain way” (1611).^[6] User de with an abstract object, “to resort to” (user de violence), dates from about 1400.^[6] Rey notes that English borrowed this sense of using as the verb use.^[6]

In the second branch the verb meant to wear away (1160–74, intransitive: huem moert, fer use “man dies, iron wears away”), and since the first half of the 13th century to wear something down, as water wears a mill wheel.^[2] From the late 16th century it was used figuratively of weakening a feeling or a person's strength (1583), as in the mind wearing out (1601).^[6][2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has sun tens uset “spent his time”.^[2]
• c. 1135 – The Couronnement de Louis uses it for “to make use of” (food).^[2]
• 1160–1174 – Wace uses it for practising a trade, and intransitively for “to wear away”.^[2]
• 13th century – The construction user de appears.^[6]
• 1530 – Palsgrave records the pronominal s'user.^[2]
• 1583 – Garnier uses it figuratively, of a worn face.^[2]
• 1611 – En user avec quelqu'un is recorded.^[6][9]
• 1666 – La Fontaine uses être bon à l'user.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. User de (dated or formal): to make use of something, to employ it: user de son bien.^[9][10]
2. User de: to resort to, to bring into play: user de son influence, user d'un prétexte.^[9] Also of words: user de termes vagues.^[9]
3. En user avec quelqu'un (dated): to behave towards someone in a certain way.^[9]
4. (transitive) To use up, to consume: cette lampe use beaucoup d'huile.^[9][8]
5. (transitive) To wear out or wear down by use or friction: user ses chaussures.^[9][1] User jusqu'à la corde: to wear threadbare.^[9][1]
6. (transitive, figurative) To weaken gradually: user sa santé, user la patience de quelqu'un.^[9]
7. (pronominal) S'user: to wear out, to become worn.^[9][2]

Word family

• inusable
• mésuser
• usé
• usure
• usable

Related words

• us
• utiliser
• Latin ūtor
• English use

Usage notes

The infinitive was used as a noun (1260), in senses now taken by usage; it survives in à l'user “with wear” (1685), said of a fabric.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 69b
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b 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 j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)