conveier

Forms

conveier (present participle conveiant; past participle conveié; first-person singular present convei)^[1]

• convoier, convoiier, conveer, cunveier, cunveer, convaier^[1][2][3]

The FEW records conveer in Benoît de Sainte-Maure and in Anglo-Norman,^[4] and Chrétien de Troyes writes convoier with the past convea.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *conviō (“to set on the way, accompany”),^[4][5][6][1] formed from com- (“with”) and via (“way, road”).^[1][7] The DHLF analyses it as com- and the Late Latin verb viō (“to travel”), from the same noun.^[8] Bloch and Wartburg render the Vulgar Latin verb as "to set out on the road with someone".^[9] Its Romance cognates include Old Italian conviare (“to accompany”) and Old Occitan conviar.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Couronnement de Louis, of the second third of the 12th century, where Louis escorts the departing count a long way on his road.^[10][11] The DHLF dates the form conveier to about 1130–1160.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is to go with someone who is leaving, as host, friend or guard: in Chrétien's Erec the count promises to escort Erec when he leaves in the morning, and no knight or lady stays behind from escorting the maiden and the knight.^[3] Tobler–Lommatzsch adds "to send on one's way", the phrase convoiier mort "to strike dead", "to direct a weapon" and "to bring forward in a narrative".^[12] Old and Middle French also said convoyer une lance in a tournament and convoyer des yeux "to follow with the eyes".^[8]

The noun formed from the verb, first conveiz about 1165, became French convoi.^[8] From about 1360 the verb narrowed to escorting a convoy for protection, and its modern form is French convoyer.^[8]

Timeline

• 1133–1166 – in the Couronnement de Louis.^[10][11]
• 1155 – convoia in the Roman d'Eneas,^[13] and conveier in the first Anglo-Norman text the AND cites.^[2]
• c. 1165 – conveé in Marie de France's Lais.^[14]
• c. 1170 – convoier in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide.^[3][15]
• c. 1360 – "to escort a convoy".^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. to accompany, escort someone, especially on departure.^[3][2][11]
2. to send on one's way, direct.^[12]
3. to direct a weapon.^[12]
4. to carry, bring.^[2]
5. (Anglo-Norman, law) to convey, pass on property or rights.^[2]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word conveier, first cites it from 1155, and lists spellings such as conveer, cunveier and cunvoier.^[2] Besides "to escort", it records "to carry, bring", "to pass on, hand down", the legal "to convey, transmit" property and rights, and "to pursue, chase".^[2] Middle English borrowed the Anglo-French verb as conveien, the source of the English word convey, and the English verb convoy came from the Old French one.^[7][2]

Descendants

• French convoyer^[1][8]
• Middle English conveien (borrowed; → English convey)^[7]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch and the DÉCT head the word convoiier, Godefroy convoier, the AND conveier and the DMF convoyer.^{[11][3][2][16]}

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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. conveier
3. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. convoiier
4. ^ a b c Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2:1135
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2199
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 279
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. convoyer
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 196
10. ^ a b Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. convoiier
11. ^ a b c d Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:822
12. ^ a b c Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:823
13. ^ Penn Parsed Corpus of Historical French, version 1.0, University of Pennsylvania & University of Ottawa (texts by file name), p. 1155-eneas1-bfm-r
14. ^ Rainsford, Thomas, CorMétAF: lemmatised extracts of Old and Middle French verse and prose (990–1500), github (texts by siglum), p. MarieLaisE
15. ^ 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. ErecF
16. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. convoyer