menacer French · revision 16851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1120, Psautier de Cambridge|origins=la minacia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mə.na.se/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''menacer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|manecier]] (about 1120) and [[m|fro|menacier]] (about 1160); ''menacer'' from 1380.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|menacier]], [[inh|la-vul|*mināciō]], from [[la|minācia|t=threat]] (see [[menace]]).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The Vulgar Latin verb replaced classical [[m|la|minor|t=to threaten]] in that sense; the classical verb, which meant properly “to jut out”, survived in the sense “to lead” (see [[mener]]).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Reichenau glosses have “manatiat” for “minatur” “he threatens”.^(TLFi)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|minacciare]], [[ro|amenința]], [[ca|menassar]], [[es|amenazar]] and [[pt|ameaçar]].^(TLFi)^(REW 1935) Littré gives [[wa|manesî]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has ''manachad eals'', translating ''minavit eos'' “he threatened them”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Menacier quelqu'un de'' with an infinitive, threatening someone with an act, is in the ''Couronnement de Louis'' (about 1135).^(TLFi) About 1200 a thing could threaten too, in ''manecier trebuchement'' “to threaten to fall”, ''menacer ruine'' “to be on the verge of collapse” is recorded by the Académie in 1694, after Montaigne's ''menaçant sa ruyne''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) A proverb of the 15th century says ''menacez vivent, et decollez meurent'' “the threatened live and the beheaded die”.^(Littré 1873) The adjective [[menaçant]] is said of the weather in Rousseau (1762).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Manecier'', in the Cambridge Psalter.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1135 – ''Menacier de'' with an infinitive.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Menacier'', in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – Of a thing, “to threaten (to happen)”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1380 – The form ''menacer''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1694 – ''Menacer ruine'', in the Académie dictionary.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1762 – ''Temps menaçant'', in Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|threaten]], try to intimidate: ''menacer quelqu'un de mort'', ''menacer de'' with an infinitive.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a thing, to [[m|en|endanger]], be a danger to.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a thing, to be likely to happen or about to: ''l'orage menace'', ''menacer ruine'', to be on the point of collapse.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[menaçant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[menace]]

+ * [[mener]]

+ * [[la|minācia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}