placer French · revision 17061

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1564, Thierry|origins=grc πλατεῖα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pla.se/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''placer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|place|-er]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|9, 4b) “Place” itself comes from [[la|platēa|t=broad street]], which took the sense “public square” in late Latin, perhaps from [[grc|πλατεῖα|tr=plateîa]], the feminine of [[m|grc|πλατύς|tr=platús|t=broad]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré noted that the verb seems to have come into use only in the early 17th century, and found the noun [[placement]] earlier in d'Aubigné.^(Littré 1873) In horse racing, “se placer” “to finish in the first places” (1868) was borrowed from [[en|place]], used in this sense since 1831.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Thierry's French–Latin dictionary (1564) has ''se placer en un lieu convenable'' “to take one's place in a suitable spot”, and gives ''desplacer'' as its opposite.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century it widened: placing a ball in tennis (before 1662, Pascal), doing something at the right moment (1671, Madame de Sévigné), and ''un mot bien placé'' “a well-timed word” (1690).^(TLFi) It was used for finding a family or a husband for someone (1582), putting a child in a boarding school (1676), finding someone a job (1690), investing money (1680) and selling goods (1755, Montesquieu).^(TLFi)

+

+ La Bruyère (1696) wrote of being unable to ''placer un mot'' “get a word in”, and the familiar ''en placer une'' continues this.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) ''Placer sa voix'' is in Colette (1910).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1564 – ''Se placer'', Thierry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1582 – To place in a family, by marriage.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – To do at the right moment, Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – To invest money, Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – To find someone a post, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1755 – To sell, Montesquieu.^(TLFi)

+ * 1868 – ''Se placer'' in racing, after English.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|place]], put in a given spot: ''placer un vase sur la table''; to show to a seat: ''placer les invités''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To situate in space or time; to put in a category.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To say or do at the right moment: ''placer un mot'', ''(familiar)'' ''en placer une'', to get a word in.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To find a job or position for: ''placer un domestique''; to put (a child) in care or a school.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To [[m|en|invest]] (money): ''placer ses économies''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To sell, find buyers for: ''placer des marchandises''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Se placer'': to take a place, ''(sport)'' to finish among the first.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[placement]]

+ * [[placeur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[remplacer]]

+ * [[déplacer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate masculine noun ''placer'' /plasɛʁ/ “gold-bearing deposit” (1846) came through American English from Mexican Spanish ''placer'' “sandbank; pearl-oyster bed”, borrowed from Catalan ''placer'', a derivative of ''plaça'' “square”, so it is related to ''place'' only at a distance: ''les placers de Californie''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}