réfléchir French · revision 16564

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Dialogues of Gregory (reflekir)|origins=la flectō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁe.fle.ʃiʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''réfléchir'''^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Reflekir'' (late 12th century), ''reflechir'' (about 1278), Old Burgundian ''reflenchir''; the Académie wrote ''refleschir'' in 1694 and 1718, ''réfléchir'' from 1740.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|reflectō|t=to bend back; to turn back; to turn one's mind to]], adapted after [[fléchir]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|10, 190a) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|re-|t=back]] and [[m|la|flectō|t=to bend]]; in Medieval Latin it also meant to reflect, of a mirror (about 1240).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The sense “to think” goes back to Latin “reflectere animum” “to turn the mind back”.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

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

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ At the end of the 12th century ''reflekir'', in the ''Dialogues'' of Gregory, means to direct the eye or the mind; in Jean de Meun's ''Roman de la Rose'' (1269–78) ''reflechir'' is to send back by reflection.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In anatomy ''se reflechir'' meant to bend back on itself (Henri de Mondeville, 1314), a use that lasted into the 16th century (Paré).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The optical sense grew in importance in the 17th century with the science of optics, and it was applied to sound in 1718.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The intellectual sense, “to think carefully”, is found in Bossuet (1672), after an isolated ''se reflechir'' “to meditate” (1609); Bouhours still preferred ''faire réflexion''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) It spread in the 18th century to become the main sense, with ''réfléchir sur'' (1675) and ''réfléchir à'' (1701).^(DHLF 1992) ''Verbes réfléchis'' (reflexive verbs) is a grammatical term from 1701.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Reflekir'', to direct the mind.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1269–78 – Optical sense, Jean de Meun.^(TLFi)

+ * 1314 – In anatomy, Henri de Mondeville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1609 – ''Se reflechir'', to meditate.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – “To think carefully”, Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1701 – ''Verbes réfléchis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1786 – ''Irréfléchi''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|reflect]], send back light, an image or sound: ''le miroir réfléchit l'image'', ''se réfléchir'', to be reflected.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To think, [[m|en|ponder]]: ''réfléchir avant d'agir'', ''réfléchir à'', ''sur'', ''cela donne à réfléchir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Réfléchir que'': to consider, realize that.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Tout bien réfléchi'': all things considered.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[réfléchi]]

+ * [[réfléchissant]]

+ * [[réfléchissement]]

+ * [[irréfléchi]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reflet]]

+ * [[fléchir]]

+ * [[réflexion]]

+ * [[réflexe]]

+ * [[la|reflectō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}