prévenir French · revision 16544

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1467, letters of Louis XI|origins=la veniō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁev.niʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /pʁɛv.niʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''prévenir'''^(Wiktionary)

+ The Académie wrote ''prevenir'' in 1694 and 1718, ''prévenir'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|praeveniō|t=to come before; to anticipate, forestall; to surpass]], from [[m|la|prae-|t=before]] and [[m|la|veniō|t=to come]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|9, 325a) Bloch and Wartburg note that French developed two senses with no link between them, “to forestall” and “to warn”, so that its two main modern senses are unrelated.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[pro|prevenir]], [[es|prevenir]] and [[it|prevenire]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In a letter of Louis XI (1467) it is a legal term, “to summon before a court”; about 1480 the ''Mystère du Viel Testament'' uses it for “to act first”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Following the Latin it meant to forestall someone (1512) and to come before (Calvin, 1551: ''La misericorde de Dieu nous prévient''), uses now archaic.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The modern senses developed about 1600: to stop something unfortunate from happening (Montchrestien, 1604), whence the proverb ''mieux vaut prévenir que guérir''; to inform in advance (1585); and to prejudice someone for or against (Pascal, ''prévenir en faveur de'', 1675).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) To warn as a threat is in Laclos (1782), and ''prévenir les désirs'' “to anticipate” in La Bruyère (1691).^(TLFi) The noun ''prévenu'', an accused person (1585), continues the first legal sense.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1467 – “To summon to court”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1480 – “To act first”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1585 – “To inform in advance”, ''prévenu''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1604 – “To prevent”, Montchrestien.^(TLFi)

+ * 1675 – ''Prévenir en faveur de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1691 – To anticipate wishes, La Bruyère.^(TLFi)

+ * 1782 – To warn as a threat, Laclos.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|warn]], let know, inform: ''prévenez-moi si vous venez'', ''je vous aurai prévenu !''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|prevent]], avert, ward off: ''prévenir un accident'', ''mieux vaut prévenir que guérir''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To anticipate: ''prévenir les désirs de quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To prejudice, bias: ''prévenir quelqu'un en faveur de'', ''contre''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' To forestall, act before someone.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[prévenant]]

+ * [[prévenance]]

+ * [[prévenu]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[préventif]]

+ * [[prévention]]

+ * [[venir]]

+ * [[la|praeveniō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}