écarter French · revision 16816

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=late 13th century (escarter)|origins=la quartus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.kaʁ.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''écarter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''escarter''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It probably continues [[inh|la-vul|*exquartō|t=to divide into four]], from [[m|la|ex-]] with intensive force and [[m|la|quartus|t=fourth]] (see [[quart]]);^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|3, 315a) the original sense, kept in [[it|squartare]], is “to quarter”, whence “to separate”, the only sense found in French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) See also [[écarteler]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Pierre Guiraud proposed instead [[la-vul|*excoartō|t=to loosen, separate]], from [[m|la|coartō|t=to press together]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré derived all its senses from discarding at cards, from [[carte]], but admitted a confusion with [[m|fro|esquarter]];^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary reports Pianigiani's Latin [[m|la|excerpō|t=to pick out]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A late 13th-century ''Chronique de Terre Sainte'' has ''avoir escarté l'ost'', “to have moved away from the main army”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The GLLF gives 1249, ''escarter'' “to move away from”.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The reflexive “to move off, go aside” is in the ''Mystère du Viel Testament'' (about 1450), and the transitive “to put at a distance” in Montchrestien (1604).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 1573 it is used for spreading the parts of a thing apart, and in Noël du Fail (1585) ''s'écarter'' is to wander from a subject, whence ''s'écarter de la raison'' (Du Ryer, 1647).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Racine (1672) uses it figuratively for keeping something away from someone, a danger for instance, and, from 1690 it means to set aside an idea.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In some French regions it means to spread out, as washing to dry, and in Canada, by extension of “to put aside”, “to mislay”.^(DHLF 1992) The noun [[écart]] (about 1200) followed it in concrete and abstract senses.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1249 – ''Escarter'' “to move away”.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Avoir escarté l'ost''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1450 – ''S'écarter'' “to go aside”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1557 – [[écartement]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1573 – “To spread apart”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1585 – ''S'écarter'' “to digress”, Noël du Fail.^(TLFi)

+ * 1604 – “To keep at a distance”, Montchrestien.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – Figurative “to keep away”, Racine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move apart, [[m|en|spread]], open: ''écarter les doigts, les bras'', ''écarter les rideaux''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To move away, push aside: ''écarter la foule'', ''écarter une table du mur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To keep away, avert: ''écarter un danger''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # To [[m|en|dismiss]], rule out, reject; to remove someone from a post.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''S'écarter'': to move aside, step away; to [[m|en|deviate]], stray: ''s'écarter du sujet''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(Canada, Louisiana)'' To lose, ''s'écarter'', to get lost.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[écart]]

+ * [[écartement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quart]]

+ * [[écarteler]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate verb ''écarter'' “to discard” at cards (Cotgrave, 1611) is formed from [[carte]], perhaps influenced by [[it|scartare]]; its past participle gave the card game ''écarté'' (1810).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}