resister

Forms

resister (present participle resistant; past participle resisté; first-person singular present resist)^[1]

• resistir, resistre, resistere^[1][2][3]

The form in -ir is recorded in Fribourg in 1407.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin resistō (“to stand still; to withstand”).^[1][5][4][6] The Latin verb is formed from re- and sistō (“to stop, stand”);^[1][7] its first meaning was “to stop, not go further”, then “to stand facing” and “to oppose”.^[5][8] Van Daele notes that the word changed its conjugation, with the infinitive in ⟨-er⟩ and beside it resistir.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEAF's earliest record is the continuation of William of Tyre's chronicle, of the 13th century, in a manuscript of 1245, where the verb means “to defend oneself, to meet force with force”.^[10][11] Bloch and Wartburg date the word about 1240, a first record the DHLF calls unclear,^[12][8] while the TLFi, the FEW and Wiktionary begin with a document of 1327 from Reims.^[5][4][1]

Semantic evolution

Joinville uses it about 1309 of one who had no power to resist his enemies.^[13][14] In the 14th century it was used of resisting armed force and authority, and spiritually of standing against the devil, as in the poems of Gilles li Muisis.^[5][13] A text in Tobler–Lommatzsch says that coriander is good against all venomous humours and vapours.^[13] Oresme, about 1377, uses it of a physical force acting against another, as the air in a vessel resists its sinking.^[15]

From 1370 it also meant to rebel against authority, and in the 16th century it came to be said of things that hold out against a force; modern French has résister.^[8][5] The noun resistence is recorded from the late 13th century.^[16][4]

Timeline

• 1200–1245 – resist in the continuation of William of Tyre's chronicle.^[10][11]
• c. 1240 – the first record of Bloch and Wartburg.^[12]
• 1285–1300 – resister in the Hystore Job.^[10][17]
• 1305–1309 – resister in Joinville's Vie de saint Louis.^[14][13]
• 1327 – resisting force used by an authority, in a document from Reims.^[5][4]
• 1363–1364 – the AND's first insular citation.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) to resist, withstand; to defend oneself, meet force with force.^[13][10][2]
2. to resist with armed force.^[2][5]
3. to oppose; to stand firm against.^[2]
4. (Anglo-Norman) to hinder, impede; to desist from.^[2]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the verb resister, with the spellings resistere, resistir and resistre, and first cites it from 1363–1364, so that it is recorded in England only after 1330.^[2] Its insular senses include armed resistance, hindering and desisting from an action.^[2] Middle English resisten has the French verb and Latin as its sources,^[18] and is recorded from the late 14th century; the English word is resist.^[19]

Word family

• resistence
• resistable

Descendants

• Middle French resister (→ French résister)^[15][5]
• Middle English resisten (borrowed; → English resist)^[18][19]

Usage notes

Wiktionary counts the verb as late Old French.^[1] Tobler–Lommatzsch and the AND head it resister, Godefroy has both resister and resistir, and the DMF has resister and a separate resistir.^{[13][2][20][3][21]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. resister
3. ^ a b c 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. 7:98
4. ^ a b c d e Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10:300
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 811
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. resistō
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. résister
9. ^ Van Daele, Hilaire, Petit dictionnaire de l'ancien français, Paris: Garnier, p. 419
10. ^ a b c d 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. resister
11. ^ 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. ContGuillTyrA
12. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 590
13. ^ a b c d e f Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 8:1017
14. ^ a b Martineau, France, et al., Corpus MCVF (Modéliser le changement: les voies du français), version 2.0, University of Ottawa (texts by file name), p. 1309-joinville-mcvf-p
15. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. resister
16. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. resistence
17. ^ 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. JobB
18. ^ 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)
19. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
20. ^ 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. 10:557
21. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. resistir