fornir

Forms

fornir (defective verb: used only in the forms in which the n of the stem is followed by i)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French fornir (“to accomplish, carry out”), the modern French fournir, which Houaiss dates to about 1160 and derives from a West Germanic *frumjan.^[3][4][1] The DHLF records the Old French verb as furnir in 1119 and in its later form about 1130, and explains the ⟨n⟩ in place of the Germanic ⟨m⟩ by the influence of garnir, a verb of very similar meaning.^[5] Nascentes notes that Meyer-Lübke found the relation between the Romance ⟨n⟩ and the original ⟨m⟩ unclear, and that Nunes explained it as a dissimilation.^[6] Michaelis derives the Portuguese verb through Catalan.^[7]

The Frankish verb is *frumjaną (“to further, promote”), related to frummen and the German frommen “to be of use”.^[8][5][9] The same French verb is the source of Catalan fornir, Italian fornire and, through the Old French, of English furnish.^[9][10] Spanish fornido “strong, sturdy” is the participle of Old Spanish fornir taken from Catalan.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded from the 14th century.^[3][4] Lorenzo's chronology cites a chronicle in which the Cid sends for a man que fosse fornir a postura “to go and carry out the agreement”, with the Old French sense “to accomplish”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) refers fornir to fornecer “to supply”, and uses it of padding hats with wool.^[12] Morais (1813) gives the senses “to thicken, to give body to”, with the examples of felt filled out with wool and a ship given a thick planking.^[13] From there it came to mean to make a person or a plant robust and well fed, a sense that the participle fornido “sturdy, well-built” also has.^[3][14]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record.^[3][4]
• 14th century – fornecer, with the inchoative suffix, also appears.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau uses it of filling out hats with wool.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais gives the sense “to thicken, give body to”.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To supply or provide with something; to stock: fornir a casa de lenha.^[3][16]
2. To make thick, dense or full-bodied.^[3][17]
3. To make a person robust and well fed.^[3][1]

Word family

• fornido
• fornecer

Related words

• Old French fornir
• French fournir

References

1. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fornir
2. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. fornir
3. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fornir
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fornir
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. fournir
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. fornir
7. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. fornir
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *frumjan
9. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fornido
11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. fornir
12. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fornir
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 50
14. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fornido
15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fornecer
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. fornir
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4416