reverser

Forms

reverser (present participle reversant; past participle reversé; first-person singular present revers)^[1]

• reversier, revercer, reversser^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin reversō (“to turn round”),^[4][5] a verb formed from Latin re- and versō (“to turn”),^[1] which Lewis and Short cite from Augustine's Confessions and the Vulgate.^[6] Greimas also derives it from a popular Latin verb.^[7] Wiktionary takes it instead for a borrowing from Latin.^[1]

Its Romance cognates include Italian rovesciare (“to overturn”), Old Occitan reversar, Catalan revessar, said of a wind or current that turns, and Spanish revesar (“to vomit”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Wace's Conception Notre Dame, a Norman poem of the second quarter of the 12th century,^[8][9] and the AND's first citation is of the same period.^[2] Greimas quotes Wace for turning up a garment: Senz sa chemise reverser "without turning up her shift".^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant turning something over or round: a garment turned up or inside out, a coat of arms turned upside down as a mark of shame, soil turned with the spade, a boat capsized.^[10][2] It also meant knocking someone to the ground, rummaging through a place, as in Par trestot ont il reversé "they searched everywhere", and, intransitively, falling or, of a stormy sea, surging over.^[7][10] Anglo-Norman law used it for reversing a verdict.^[2]

Middle French still used it for knocking down and overturning,^[11] and the FEW's last record of that sense is Palsgrave in 1530.^[4] Modern French reverser continues the verb meaning "to pour again".^[12]

Timeline

• 1125–1150 – Wace's Conception Notre Dame.^[8][9]
• 1125–1150 – the AND's first citation.^[2]
• 1133–1166 – the Moniage Guillaume.^[10]
• 1185–1200 – reversa in Floovant.^[13]
• 1350–1400 – "to knock down" in Middle French.^[11]
• 1530 – the last record, in Palsgrave.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. to turn over, overturn; to knock down.^[4][2][11]
2. to turn up or inside out (a garment); to turn a coat of arms upside down as a mark of shame.^[2][10]
3. to turn over or dig (soil); (of a boar) to root up.^[10][2]
4. to search, rummage.^[7][10]
5. to ponder, turn over in one's mind.^[2]
6. (law, Anglo-Norman) to reverse, annul a verdict.^[2]
7. (intransitive) to fall;^[10] (of a stormy sea) to surge over.^[10]
8. (reflexive) to turn round.^[10]

Anglo-Norman

The AND's first citation dates from the second quarter of the 12th century, with the spellings revercer, reversier and reversser.^[2] The insular verb added the reversal of a verdict, judgement or statement, capsizing, emptying or purging, and changing.^[2] Middle English borrowed it in the early 14th century as reversen, at first "to change", the source of English reverse.^[14]

Descendants

• Middle French reverser^[11]
• Middle English reversen (borrowed; → English reverse)^[14][2]

Related words

• verser

Usage notes

The verb meaning "to pour (again)", formed on verser, has a separate source: the FEW, the AND, the DMF and the TLFi all set it apart, the AND first citing it from the third quarter of the 12th century,^[15][2][11] and Tobler–Lommatzsch treats both under one head.^[10]

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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. reverser
3. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
4. ^ a b c d Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10:355
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7276
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. reverso
7. ^ 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. reverser
8. ^ 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. reverser
9. ^ 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. WaceConcA
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 8:1227
11. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. reverser
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Camps, Jean-Baptiste, et al., Geste: a lemmatised corpus of Old French chansons de geste, github (texts by DEAF siglum), p. FloovG
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14:308