commenter French · revision 15855

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1314, Henri de Mondeville|origins=la mēns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ.mɑ̃.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''commenter'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|commentor|alt=commentārī|t=to explain, interpret (writings)]], which in classical Latin meant “to meditate, apply one's mind to something”,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 951b) from [[m|la|com-]] and [[m|la|mēns|t=mind]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary instead derives it from [[la|commentum]], from [[m|la|comminīscor|t=to devise, invent]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[es|comentar]] and [[it|commentare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The surgeon Henri de Mondeville writes of ''declarations commentees'' in 1314, in the sense of explaining texts.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ French took the second, imperial Latin sense, first in the past participle.^(DHLF 1992) Montaigne speaks of a scholar who ''a commenté Aristote''.^(Littré 1873) In classical French the verb took the pejorative sense “to interpret maliciously” (1675), and Littré records ''commenter sur tout'' “to put a malicious construction on everything”;^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) it later returned to a neutral sense, in step with ''commentaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The noun ''commentaire'' (1485) first meant “memoirs”, as in the title of Caesar's ''Commentaires'', and has meant a text that explains another since 1675;^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''sans commentaire !'' keeps its classical pejorative edge.^(DHLF 1992) In journalism ''commentateur'' has meant a news commentator since 1904.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1314 – ''Declarations commentees'' in Mondeville.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1370 – ''Commentateur'', in Oresme.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1485 – ''Commentaire'' “memoirs”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1675 – “To interpret maliciously”, in Widerhold.^(TLFi)

+ * 1904 – ''Commentateur'' “news commentator”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To explain or [[m|en|annotate]] (a text) with a commentary: ''commenter un poème''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # To [[m|en|comment]] on, make remarks about (events, news): ''commenter l'actualité''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(dated)'' To put a malicious interpretation on (someone's doings).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[commentaire]]

+ * [[commentateur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mental]]

+ * [[la|mēns]]

+ * [[en|comment]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}