aprisier

Forms

aprisier (verb)^[1]

• apriser, aprisser^[2]
• appreiser, apreiser, apraiser^[3]

The FEW also records apreisier.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French a- + prisier (“to value, esteem”).^[4][1] The simple verb is from Latin pretiō (“to value”), from pretium (“price”),^[5][6] under which the FEW files the whole family.^[4] Etymonline derives the Old French verb instead from Late Latin appretiō (“to value, estimate”), formed with ad-.^[7] Tobler–Lommatzsch compares the synonymous esprisier.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is a gloss in Hebrew letters in Rashi's commentary on Psalms, written before 1105, where the French verb renders Biblical Hebrew ערך (ʿrk) at verse 40:6 of the Psalms.^[8] The AND's first insular citation, from 1136–1165, has the senses "to prize" and "to compare with".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant to set a value on something: the FEW dates the sense "to value at its true worth" to about 1270 and "to put a price on, appraise" to about 1310.^[4] Godefroy quotes Guiart's Bible on the thirty pieces of silver of Matthew 27:9, with aprisierent for the Vulgate's appretiaverunt.^[2] It was also used figuratively, "to esteem, appreciate".^[2][9]

In Middle French the verb was used of the valuation of goods and estates into the 16th century, and Palsgrave still records apriser.^[2][4] The modern language uses the learned French apprécier instead, but the dialects of Liège and Saint-Lô kept forms of the old verb.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1105 – a gloss in Rashi's commentary on Psalms.^[8]
• 1136–1165 – appreiser in the AND's first citation.^[3]
• c. 1270 – "to value at its true worth".^[4]
• c. 1280 – aprisier in Baudouin de Condé's Prisons d'Amours.^[1][10]
• late 13th century – in Guiart's Bible.^[9][2]
• c. 1310 – "to put a price on".^[4]
• 1392–1393 – apriser "to appraise" in an insular text.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. to value, estimate the worth of.^[1][4]
2. to put a price on, appraise.^[2][9][11]
3. to esteem, prize.^[9][3]
4. to compare with.^[3]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the verb appreiser, with the spellings apraiser, apreiser and apriser, first cited from 1136–1165 in the senses "to prize" and "to compare with".^[3] Under a second head, apriser, it records the sense "to appraise, set the value of" from 1392–1393.^[11] Middle English took the verb about 1400 as appreisen "to set a value on", the English appraise, whose spelling was later changed under the influence of praise.^[7]

Word family

• aprisement
• apriseeur

Descendants

• Middle French apriser^[12]
• Middle English appreisen (borrowed; → English appraise)^[7]

Related words

• prisier
• pris

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch and Godefroy head the word aprisier,^[1][2] the AND appreiser,^[3] and the DMF apriser.^[12] The AND's apriser "to apprise, inform" is another word, from aprendre.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:476
2. ^ a b c d e f g Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 1:359
3. ^ a b c d e f g Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. appreiser
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9:374
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9:370
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Katan, Moshe (1988), Otzar La'azei Rashi: the Old French glosses of Rashi, Jerusalem; digital edition Sefaria, p. s.v. aprisier
9. ^ a b c d Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. aprisier
10. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. BaudCondS
11. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. apriser
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. apriser