achever French · revision 16940

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la caput}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /aʃ.ve/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''achever'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from the Old French phrase [[m|fro|a chief|t=to the end]], in which the word for “head” (see [[chef]]) had the extended sense “end, extremity”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|2, 339a) The GLLF and Wiktionary instead derive it from [[la-vul|*accapō|t=to bring to a head]], from [[la|caput|t=head]], and compare [[pro|acabar]] and [[es|acabar]].^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) Old French phrases built on it meant “to come to an end” and “to manage”;^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) the verbs [[m|fro|eschever]] and [[m|fro|chever]] did not survive.^(DHLF 1992) The Old French verb is the source of [[en|achieve]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) says of the coming battle ''Seinz hume mort ne poet estre achevee'', “it cannot be brought to an end without men dying”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The pronominal ''s'achever'' “to come to an end” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (after 1170), and the intransitive ''la vie d'ome tost achieve'' in a 12th-century life of Saint Catherine.^(TLFi) Amyot uses it alone for “to finish speaking” (1559).^(TLFi) The special sense “to give the death blow to, kill” appears in Rabelais (1534), and Rabelais also has ''pour m'achever de peindre'', “to crown my misfortune”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In classical French it meant “to ruin someone” (1614), a sense related to the modern “to wear out completely”.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The participle [[achevé]] became an adjective in the 16th century, “accomplished, perfect”; in classical French it also meant “complete” in a bad sense, as in ''un sot achevé''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) [[achèvement]] dates from after 1273.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – In the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * After 1170 – ''S'achever''.^(TLFi)

+ * After 1273 – ''Achèvement''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1534 – “To finish off, kill”, in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – “To finish speaking”, in Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1614 – “To ruin” (Hulsius).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|finish|alt=Finish]], complete: ''achever un travail'', ''achever ses jours'', ''achever de'' (and infinitive), to finish doing.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(absolute)'' To finish speaking: ''Laissez-le achever.''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To finish off, to kill (someone already wounded).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To wear out completely, to be the last straw for.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''S'achever'': to come to an end.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[achevé]]

+ * [[achèvement]]

+ * [[inachevé]]

+ * [[parachever]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chef]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}