agiter French · revision 16933

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, La Nature à l'alchimiste|origins=la ago}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.ʒi.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''agiter'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|agitō|t=to drive, toss about; to stir up; to discuss]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|24, 262b) a frequentative and intensive of [[m|la|agō|t=to drive, set in motion; to act]], the source of [[agir]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873) Its compound [[m|la|cōgitō]] meant “to turn thoughts over” (compare [[cogiter]]).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears in a 13th-century alchemical poem, of the elements: ''Sont transmuez et agitez De leur propre en autre nature''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figuratively it meant “to trouble, excite (someone)” from 1550, a sense common in the 17th century;^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Montaigne writes that our souls ''se treuvent souvent agitées de diverses passions'' (1580).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Agiter une question'' “to debate it” is recorded in 1561.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) The pronominal ''s'agiter'' (mid-17th century) is said of people bustling about.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Under the Revolution, probably after [[agitateur]] and [[agitation]], it took the sense “to stir up to revolt” (1797), and the Académie recorded ''agiter le peuple'' in 1798.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(BHVF) ''Agitation'' is a 14th-century borrowing from Latin,^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) and ''agitateur'' (1651) follows English ''agitator'' (1647).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In slang ''les agiter'' “to run off” dates from 1917, and the noun ''un agité'' was a mental patient in Baudelaire (1867).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – In an alchemical poem.^(TLFi)

+ * 1355 – ''Agitation''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1550 – “To trouble, excite”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1561 – ''Agiter une question''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1651 – ''Agitateur'', after English.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * Mid-17th century – ''S'agiter''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1797 – “To stir up to revolt”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1917 – Slang ''les agiter''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|shake|alt=Shake]], wave, stir: ''agiter les bras'', ''agiter avant utilisation'', shake before use.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To brandish (a threat): ''agiter le spectre de''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To trouble, [[m|en|agitate]], excite (someone).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To stir up (a people) to revolt.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' To debate, discuss (a question).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''S'agiter'': to fidget, bustle about.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[agité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[agitation]]

+ * [[agitateur]]

+ * [[agir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}