avouer French · revision 17069

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1155, Wace (avoer)|origins=la vōx}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.vwe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''avouer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|avoer]], [[inh|la|advocō|t=to call to oneself, summon]], from [[m|la|ad-]] and [[m|la|vocō|t=to call]], from [[m|la|vōx|t=voice]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|24, 201a) The Old French forms “avoer”, then “avouer” and “il aveue” (1283), where “avuer”, “il avue” would be expected, are explained by an early levelling of the stressed forms on the unstressed ones, helped by Medieval Latin and by the derivative [[avoué]], Wiktionary also allows a Latinate influence.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Littré took it as a compound of [[à]] and [[vouer]], Bloch and Wartburg note that this view only explains the reflexive ''s'avouer'' “to declare oneself someone's man”.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ From the same Latin verb come, by borrowing, [[avocat]] and, by inheritance, “avoué”.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace has ''avoer'' in 1155; it was first a term of feudal law, “to acknowledge someone as one's lord”, a sense Medieval Latin ''advocare'' also had.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French it widened to “approve, ratify” (early 13th century) and “accept as valid” (1387, Froissart); in Middle French it also meant to acknowledge a power or a person (Rabelais's ''advouer Dieu''), to allow, to protect, and to recognise a child as one's son (1538).^(DHLF 1992) These uses faded in the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

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+ The modern sense, “to admit something wrong”, is a narrowing of “to acknowledge as true” that Latin did not have, Rey dates it from Robert Estienne (1538), while Bloch and Wartburg find it usual only from the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''S'avouer coupable'' is recorded in 1671, and the participle survives in the proverb ''faute avouée est à demi pardonnée'' “a fault confessed is half forgiven”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1155 – ''Avoer'', Wace.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1283 – ''Il aveue'', Beaumanoir.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1387 – “To accept as valid”, Froissart.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – To confess a wrong; to acknowledge a child.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – ''S'avouer coupable''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|admit]], [[m|en|confess]], acknowledge as true, usually with some reluctance: ''avouer un crime'', ''j'avoue que…''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''S'avouer'': to admit to being: ''s'avouer vaincu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(literary)'' To acknowledge as one's own: ''avouer un livre'', ''avouer pour fils''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' To [[m|en|approve]], ratify: ''des principes que la morale peut avouer''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(historical)'' To acknowledge as one's feudal lord.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aveu]]

+ * [[inavouable]]

+ * [[inavoué]]

+ * [[avouable]]

+ * [[désavouer]]

+ * [[désaveu]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[avocat]]

+ * [[convoquer]]

+ * [[voix]]

+ * [[avoué]]

+ * [[vouer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}