renvoyer French · revision 16920

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1160, Roman d'Eneas|origins=la via}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁɑ̃.vwa.je/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''renvoyer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|re-|envoyer]], marking a return to an earlier state.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The base verb continues [[la-lat|inviō|t=to travel]], which must have taken the sense “to send” early on.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Roman d'Eneas'' (about 1160) uses it for sending someone back where he was: ''mort li renveoit Eneas'' “Aeneas sent him back dead”.^(TLFi) Benoît de Sainte-Maure has it for sending a thing back: ''ainz les li renveia ariere'' “but he sent them back to him”.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1200 Jean Bodel uses it for dismissing an army, and by 1480 it meant “to dismiss (someone) from a post”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 15th-century law it took the sense “to refer (someone) to a more competent authority”, then “to refer (a reader)” (1538, ''renvoyer le lecteur aux notes'').^(DHLF 1992) From 1665 it meant “to acquit” in law, and, from 1690 “to postpone”;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''renvoyer aux calendes'' is in La Fontaine (1668), and ''aux calendes grecques'' in Furetière (1690).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Ball games gave ''renvoyer l'esteuf'' “to retort” (1593), ''se renvoyer l'esteuf'' “to pass the responsibility to each other” (1611), ''se renvoyer la balle'' (1787) and, much later, ''renvoyer l'ascenseur'' “to return a favour” (1909).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Descartes uses it in 1637 for reflecting light.^(TLFi) The noun [[renvoi]] (1396) means a dismissal, a cross-reference (1611) and, from about 1748, a belch.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1160 – “To send back”, in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – “To disband (an army)”, in Jean Bodel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1396 – The noun ''renvoi''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1480 – “To dismiss (soldiers, a servant)”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – “To refer (a reader)”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1637 – “To reflect (light)”, in Descartes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1665 – “To acquit”, in La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Renvoyer aux calendes grecques'', in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1787 – ''Se renvoyer la balle''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1909 – ''Renvoyer l'ascenseur'', in Jules Renard.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To send back (someone) where they came from: ''renvoyer les soldats dans leurs foyers''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To send away; to [[m|en|dismiss]], fire, [[m|en|expel]]: ''renvoyer un domestique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To send or give back (a thing): ''renvoyer une lettre à l'expéditeur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To throw or hit back (a ball): ''renvoyer la balle'', ''renvoyer l'ascenseur'', to return a favour.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a surface, to [[m|en|reflect]] (light, an image); to echo (a sound).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To refer (someone, a case) to another authority; to refer (a reader) to a passage.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|postpone]], put off: ''renvoyer aux calendes grecques'', to put off indefinitely.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To remind (someone) of something.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[renvoi]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[envoyer]]

+ * [[envoi]]

+ * [[voie]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}