guetter French · revision 16014

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=frk *wahtōn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɛ.te/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ɡe.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''guetter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|guaitier]] (about 1100), ''gaitier'', ''gueitier'' (Chrétien de Troyes), ''guetter'' (1538, Robert Estienne).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|guaitier]], from [[frk|*wahtōn|t=to keep watch]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) reconstructed from Old High German “wahtēn” “to keep watch”, [[dum|wachten]] and [[en|watch]], and is a derivative of the noun “*wahta” (see [[guet]], [[guette]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Petit Robert relates the family to Latin “vegēre” and “vigēre” (see [[veiller]]).^(Petit Robert 2007) Wiktionary notes that [[en|wait]] comes from the same source through Anglo-Norman.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[pro|gaitar]] and [[it|guatare]].^(Littré 1873)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''guaitier'' for keeping watch over a dead man.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French it competed with [[garder]], which partly explains its development: after “to watch over (people, to protect them)” (Wace, about 1130–1140), a sense kept regionally and in Canadian French (''guetter les bêtes''), it came to mean secret watching: spying on someone with bad intentions (about 1135), lying in wait to surprise (1160–1174) and waiting impatiently for something to come (12th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The whole range of meaning was fixed in the 12th century, and the derivatives are old: ''guet'' (1160), ''guetteur'' (1190), ''aux aguets''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In Normandy and the north it also means simply “to look”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Guaitier'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1135 – “To spy on”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1130–1140 – “To guard”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160 – ''Guet''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1160–1174 – “To lie in wait”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1190 – ''Guetteur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1538 – The spelling ''guetter''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|watch]] (intently), lie in wait for: ''le chat guette la souris''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To watch out for, wait for: ''guetter une occasion'', ''guetter le facteur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative, of a thing)'' To threaten, loom over: ''la maladie le guette''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Canada, regional)'' To watch over (animals).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guetteur]]

+ * [[guet]]

+ * [[aguet]]

+ * [[guet]]

+ * [[guetteur]]

+ * [[guet-apens]]

+ * [[aguets]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[guette]]

+ * [[échauguette]]

+ * [[en|watch]]

+ * [[en|wait]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}