vengeur

Forms

vengeur (feminine vengeresse, masculine plural vengeurs, feminine plural vengeresses)^[1] Old French vengedur and vencheur (about 1120), then vengeor (before 1191); vengeur and vengeresse are found about 1380.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vengedur, inherited from Late Latin vindicātor (“avenger”), according to the Grand Robert, the GLLF and Rey, who derive the early forms from the Late Latin noun and its feminine vindicātrīx, from vindicō (“to claim, avenge”); the later forms vengeor and the modern one were then reshaped after venger.^[4][3][2] The TLFi instead treats the word as a French formation, venger with the suffix -eur, and Wiktionary gives the Late Latin source only as possible.^[5][1]

Compare Old Occitan venjaire, Catalan venjador, Spanish vengador and Italian vengiatore.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as vengedur in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century): Que tu destruies le enemi e le vengédur “that you may destroy the enemy and the avenger”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun has kept its meaning, “one who avenges or punishes”.^[5][6] The feminine vengeresse is recorded as an adjective in the 13th century, and the masculine adjective at the end of the 16th century, in Agrippa d'Aubigné.^[2][3] Vengeresse is now literary and rare, and the adjective, “avenging, inspired by revenge”, is literary or humorous.^[2][7]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Vengedur appears in the Oxford Psalter.^[5][4][3]
• before 1191 – The form vengeor appears.^[4][3][2]
• 13th century – Vengeresse is used as an adjective.^[2][3]
• c. 1380 – The forms vengeur and vengeresse appear.^[4][3][2]
• late 16th century – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses the masculine as an adjective.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An avenger, a person who avenges someone or something, or who punishes: le vengeur d'une offense.^[7][8][5]

Adjective

1. (literary or humorous) avenging, driven by or serving revenge: un bras vengeur, un pamphlet vengeur.^[7][8]

Related words

• venger
• vengeance
• revanche
• vindicatif
• vindicte
• Latin vindicō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e 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
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)