retourner French · revision 15825

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=842, Strasbourg Oaths}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''retourner'''^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Returnar'' (842), [[fro|retorner]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[tourner]] with the prefix [[re-]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|13/2, 63a) but has partly become independent of the simple verb.^(DHLF 1992) The verb “tourner” is from [[la|tornō|t=to turn on a lathe]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|retornar]], [[es|retornar]] and [[it|ritornare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have ''si io returnar non l'int pois'' “if I cannot turn him away from it”, the sense “to turn (someone) away from something”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The pronominal ''se retorner'' “to go back” is in the ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) and ''s'en returnerent'' in ''Saint Alexis'';^(TLFi) intransitively ''retourner'' meant “to go back to a place” from 1080.^(DHLF 1992) The transitive “to send back” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165), and in 1832 Balzac uses it for returning a manuscript.^(TLFi) From the 14th century it meant “to turn (an enemy's weapons) against him”, and by the 16th to turn an argument back on its author (Calvin);^(TLFi) ''retourner le compliment'' (1918) is ironic.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Other senses are “to turn upside down or inside out” (early 14th century), ''retourner une carte'' (1680) and the figurative ''de quoi il retourne'' “what it's all about” (1739);^(TLFi) ''retourner la terre'' (1660) and ''retourner la salade'' (Rousseau, 1761).^(TLFi) ''Retourner sa robe'' (late 15th century), later ''retourner sa veste'' (1870), is “to change sides”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Familiarly it means “to shake, upset (someone)” (1851).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Returnar'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 10th century – ''Se retorner'' “to go back”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – “To send back”.^(TLFi)

+ * Early 14th century – “To turn over”.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 15th century – ''Retourner sa robe''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1739 – ''De quoi il retourne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1870 – ''Retourner sa veste'' in Zola.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive, with être)'' To go back, [[m|en|return]] (to a place or state).^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To turn over, turn upside down or inside out: ''retourner un matelas'', ''retourner une crêpe''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To turn over (soil); to toss (a salad).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To send back, return (an object, a letter).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To turn (an argument, a compliment) back on someone.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To upset, shake (someone).^(TLFi)

+ # ''Retourner sa veste'': to change sides, ''de quoi il retourne'': what it is about.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To turn round; to overturn; to manage, find a way out: ''laissez-moi le temps de me retourner''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[retour]]

+ * [[retournement]]

+ * [[retournage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tourner]]

+ * [[détourner]]

+ * [[en|return]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}