montrer French · revision 16398

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1st half of the 10th century, Sermon sur Jonas|origins=la mōnstrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔ̃.tʁe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''montrer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|mostrer]] (about 980), [[m|fro|mustrer]] (1080) and ''monstrer'' (12th century); ''montrer'' is found about 1225 but is rare before the 16th–17th centuries.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|mostrer]], [[inh|la|mōnstrō|t=to show, point out; to advise]], derived from [[m|la|mōnstrum|t=portent, divine sign]] (see [[monstre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/3, 94b) The ⟨n⟩ was restored after the written Latin form: popular Latin said “mostrare”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) In common use the verb lost its religious sense and meant only “to point out, indicate; to advise”.^(DHLF 1992) “Mōnstrum” comes from [[m|la|moneō|t=to remind, warn]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|mostrare]], [[oc|mostrar]], [[es|mostrar]] and [[pt|mostrar]]; [[en|demonstrate]] and [[en|muster]] come from the same Latin verb.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its past participle is first found in the 10th-century Sermon on Jonah (''qe mostret nos habet'' “which he has shown us”), meaning “to put before the eyes”; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''Les escheles Charlun li ad mustrees'' “he showed him Charles's battalions”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The reflexive ''se montrer'' is found in Wace (1130–1140) and, with a thing as subject, in the 14th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1135 the verb meant “to make visible” (''monstre li le visage''), and about 1160 “to point out”, as a star shows the way, ''mostrer au doi'' (about 1210), the forerunner of ''montrer du doigt'', and ''montrer les dents'' (1611) took a scornful or threatening turn.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Abstract senses are just as old: “to show signs of, display” from the first records, and ''se montrer'' “to prove to be” from 1330.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Montrer la porte à quelqu'un'' is recorded by the Académie in 1835 and ''montrer patte blanche'' later.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) Its derivative ''montre'', first a display or review of troops, came to mean a watch in the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1st half of the 10th century – ''Mostret'' in the Sermon on Jonah.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

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

+ * 1130–1140 – ''Se mostrer'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1210 – ''Mostrer au doi'', in Robert de Clari.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – The spelling ''montrer''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1611 – ''Montrer la dent''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – ''Montrer la porte à quelqu'un''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|show]], let see, put before someone's eyes: ''montrer ses papiers''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To point to or point out: ''montrer du doigt'', ''montrer le chemin''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To make known, reveal, [[m|en|display]]: ''montrer son courage''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To show, prove, [[m|en|demonstrate]]: ''l'expérience montre que…''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To teach by example: ''montrer à quelqu'un comment faire''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Se montrer'': to appear, show oneself; to prove to be; to show off.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[montre]]

+ * [[montreur]]

+ * [[remontrer]]

+ * [[démontrer]]

+ * [[remontrance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[monstre]]

+ * [[la|mōnstrō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}