posséder French · revision 16676

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1364|origins=la possideō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɔ.se.de/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''posséder'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''pursedeir'' (about 1120), ''porseoir'' (1170), ''porseir'', ''porsoier'', Old and Middle French ''possider'' (from 1260).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a remaking (1364), after [[possession]] and [[possesseur]], of Old and Middle French [[m|fro|possider|t=to have possession of]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) itself [[bor|la|possideō|t=to occupy as one's own; to possess]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 239b) Beside it, from the 12th to the 14th century, French had more popular adaptations of the same Latin verb, such as [[m|fro|pursedeir]] (Oxford Psalter, about 1120) and [[m|fro|porseoir]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin verb is a compound of [[m|la|potis|t=master, able]] and [[m|la|sedeō|t=to sit]] (see [[seoir]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[pro|possezir]], [[ca|posseir]], [[es|poseer]], [[pt|possuir]] and [[it|possedere]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A document of 1364 in the Archives nationales uses it in the sense “to own”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Most extensions date from the 16th and 17th centuries: “to have (a quality, a talent)” (1553), “to dominate (someone) morally”, of a feeling (Montaigne, 1580: ''cette amitié qui possède l'ame''), and, in theology, of a demon taking hold of a body (''possédé de maling esprit'', Amyot, 1567).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Corneille uses it for having a woman as wife (''Le Cid'', 1637) and La Rochefoucauld for enjoying her favours (1666); ''se posséder'' “to control oneself” is in Corneille (1652), and Pascal (1666) has “to know thoroughly” (''posséder son sujet'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The noun ''les possédants'' “the propertied classes” appears in Barrès (1897).^(TLFi) In familiar French ''posséder quelqu'un'' means “to fool, take in”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Pursedeir'', Oxford Psalter.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1260 – ''Possider''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1364 – ''Posséder'' “to own”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1553 – “To have (a quality)”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1567 – ''Possédé de maling esprit'', Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “To dominate morally”, Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1637 – “To have as wife”, Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1652 – ''Se posséder'', Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1666 – “To know thoroughly”, Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1897 – ''Les possédants'', Barrès.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|own]], [[m|en|possess]], have at one's disposal: ''posséder une maison, une fortune''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To have (a quality, a skill): ''posséder un grand talent''; to know thoroughly: ''posséder son sujet, une langue''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To have sexual relations with (a woman); ''(dated)'' to have as wife.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Of a feeling, to dominate, hold: ''la jalousie le possède''; of a demon, to possess.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To [[m|en|fool]], take in: ''il nous a bien possédés''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Se posséder'': to control oneself.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[déposséder]]

+ * [[possédé]]

+ * [[possédant]]

+ * [[possédable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[possession]]

+ * [[possesseur]]

+ * [[seoir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}