funder

Forms

funder (continental fonder)^[1][2][3]

• fonder, feunder, fondeir^[2]

The DEAF records funder in Anglo-Norman texts from the Cambridge Psalter on, feunder in an insular document of 1333–1334, and Liège fondeir.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fundō (“to lay the foundation of, build; establish”),^[1][2][4][5] a Latin verb formed from fundus (“bottom”).^[6][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word stayed in contact with written Latin,^[8] and the DHLF treats it as a borrowing of the early 12th century.^[6]

The DEAF points out that for the Romance cognates, Old Occitan fondar, Catalan fundar, Spanish fundar, Portuguese fundar and Italian fondare, it is not always clear whether they are inherited or borrowed.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Anglo-Norman prose Cambridge Psalter of the first half of the 12th century, where the word means to lay the foundations of something: Ki fundad la terre sur sa basse “who founded the earth upon its base”, for the Latin qui fundavit terram super basem suam.^[2][9][10]

Semantic evolution

From building, the verb passed to founding a city, a church or an abbey, often in honour of a saint, and to endowing a foundation with property.^[2] About 1160 the Eneas uses it for establishing a city or an institution.^[9] Figurative uses followed: to base an argument on reason, from the middle of the 12th century, and to set an abstract thing such as the Church on a foundation.^[2]

The past participle became an adjective: fondé “grounded, learned”, said of a man well taught in the arts from about 1160,^[2] and in law “empowered”, of a proxy, from the 13th century, the source of the later fondé de pouvoir.^[2][9] Godefroy puts under the verb uses that belong to fondre “to melt”, as the DEAF notes.^[2] The verb lives on as French fonder.^[9]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – fundad “founded” in the Anglo-Norman Cambridge Psalter.^[10][2][9]
• c. 1160 – “to establish, institute” in the Eneas.^[9]
• c. 1165 – the participle fondez “well versed” in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[9]
• c. 1177 – fonderent in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain.^[11]
• 13th century – the participle in law, “empowered (as a proxy)”.^[2]
• 1305 – the reflexive “to rely, base oneself” in the Year Books.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. to found or build (a city, a building, a church), also in honour of a saint.^[2][3]
2. to endow (an abbey, a foundation); to give someone a material base.^[2][3]
3. to set firmly; to establish or install someone in an office.^[2][3]
4. to base (an argument) on reason; reflexive, to rely on.^[2][3]
5. to make or construct (from a material).^[2]
6. (past participle) instructed, learned;^[2][3] (law) empowered, authorised.^[2][3]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the verb funder, first cites it from the first half of the 12th century, and lists the spellings fonder and founder.^[3] Its insular senses include founding and endowing, grounding someone in learning, and basing one's case in law, and it records the derivative fundur “founder, benefactor” from about 1245.^[3][12] Middle English founden “to lay the foundation of” comes from the Old French verb and, from Latin, and gave the English verb found in the late 13th century.^[13][14]

Descendants

• French fonder^[9]
• Middle English founden (borrowed; → English found)^[13][14]

Usage notes

Wiktionary heads the word funder.^[1] The DEAF, Tobler–Lommatzsch, Godefroy and the DÉCT head the word fonder, the AND funder.^{[2][15][16][17][3]}

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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. fonder
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. funder
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3:863
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3580
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. fonder
7. ^ 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. fonder
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 309
9. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
10. ^ a b 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. PsCambrM
11. ^ UD Old French PROFITEROLE and UD Middle French PROFITEROLE treebanks, Universal Dependencies (from the SRCMF and the Base de français médiéval; texts by DEAF siglum), p. YvainF
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. fundur
13. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 3:2029
16. ^ 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. 4:57
17. ^ Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. fonder