Etymologically
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confronto

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Forms

cōnfrontō (present infinitive cōnfrontāre, perfect active cōnfrontāvī, supine cōnfrontātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from con- and the stem of frōns2 (“forehead, front”) with the verbal suffix -ō.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in Gascon documents of 1289, where it is used of squares bounded by a wall and of districts that border on a lord's lands.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of charters in southern France and Gascony, where estates were described by what they border on.[3][4] Du Cange quotes the deponent confrontari from documents of the Dauphiné of 1302 and 1317, where a castle and its territory border on neighbouring lands.[4] He also gives the active sense “to assign limits”, from a charter of 1406,[4] and a related noun confrontatio meant a boundary.[4][3]

French confronter (15th century) came from it;[2] English confront (1560s), at first “to stand facing”, was borrowed from the French.[2] The modern sense “to confront” is given in Wiktionary and by Stelten.[1][5]

Timeline

  • 1289 – Gascon records use it of land bordering on other land.[3]
  • 1302 – A document of the Dauphiné uses confrontari of a castle bordering on territories.[4]
  • 1406 – A charter uses it for assigning limits.[4]
  • 1560s – English confront is borrowed through French.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Medieval Latin) To border on, to be contiguous with (often deponent confrontari).[3][4][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To fix the limits of.[4][6][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To confront.[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften