venir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /və.niʁ/^[1]
• IPA: /vniʁ/^[1]

Forms

venir^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French venir, inherited from Latin veniō (“to come; to arrive; to fall to; to reach”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb meant “to move so as to reach a place (where a person is)”, and also “to arrive, to present oneself”, “to fall to (someone)”, “to reach” and “to come into a state”.^[2] It goes back to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-, expressing movement towards a goal, also seen in Ancient Greek βαίνω (baínō, “to walk, go”), English come and German kommen.^[2][5]

Cognate with Romanian veni, Italian venire, Occitan venir, Spanish venir and Portuguese vir.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 880) has it with a and a noun marking the end of the movement, “to come near”: et a lui nos laist venir “and may he let us come to him”.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb first had the general sense of the Latin.^[2] From the late 10th century it meant “to follow, to happen” of events, time and seasons, whence l'année qui vient “next year” (16th century), a calque of Latin veniens annus, and venir bien, mal “to come at the right or wrong time” (1050).^[2] Venir de “to come from” is found about 1050, and figuratively “to result from” about 1170.^[7] D'où vient que dates from 1664 (Molière).^[7] From 1080 it was a semi-auxiliary with an infinitive, “to set about doing”.^[2]

S'en venir “to come along” (1080), long general, is now regional and rural in France but common in Quebec French.^[2] The noun venue dates from the 12th century and avenir “the future” from 1486, from phrases such as le temps à venir.^[8] English venue comes from Old French venue “coming”.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 880 – Venir in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.^[7]
• c. 980 – “To happen, to come about”.^[2]
• c. 1050 – Venir de and faire venir.^[7]
• 1080 – With an infinitive, s'en venir.^[2]
• c. 1170 – Venir de “to result from”.^[7]
• 1486 – Avenir “future”.^[8]
• 1664 – D'où vient que in Molière.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To come: to move towards the place where the speaker is or is thinking of: viens ici.^[1][10]
2. To come, to arrive, to happen: le jour viendra.^[2][10]
3. Venir de: to come from; to originate from: ce mot vient du latin.^[1][7]
4. Venir de + infinitive: to have just (done): il vient de partir.^[1]
5. Venir à + infinitive: to happen to: s'il venait à pleuvoir.^[10]
6. To occur to the mind: l'idée lui est venue.^[7]
7. En venir à: to get round to, to end up: en venir aux mains.^[7][2]

Word family

• venue
• avenir
• bienvenu
• bienvenue
• survenir
• tout-venant

Related words

• devenir
• revenir
• convenir
• parvenir
• provenir
• Latin veniō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 239b
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse