étonner French · revision 17106

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (estoner)|origins=la tonō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.tɔ.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''étonner'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|estoner]], ''estonner'' in the 15th century, ''étonner'' from the 17th.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|estoner]], [[inh|la-vul|*extonō]], from [[la|attonō|t=to strike with lightning; to stun]] by change of prefix (“ex-” for “ad-”), from [[m|la|tonō|t=to thunder]] (see [[tonner]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 329b) Littré, following Diez, also argued for “*extonare” and against a Germanic source, Wiktionary still mentions [[frk|*stunōn|t=to make a loud sound]], related to [[ang|stunian]] and [[en|stun]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg note that the verb is rare outside French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) ''estoner'' is intransitive: “to be stunned (by a violent blow)”; from the 12th to the 16th century it is usually transitive, “to stun, daze”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1220 Gautier de Coinci uses it for striking with stupor, and in classical French it was still strong: “to shake, terrify, overwhelm”, which makes 17th-century texts hard to read today (Racine: ''la mort ne vous étonne-t-elle point ?'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) From the 15th century it also meant to shake or crack physically, kept in technical uses such as ''étonner une voûte''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The modern sense “to surprise” appears in the 17th century but remained strong, close to astonishment, until the 18th; it kept weakening in the 19th century, like its derivatives [[étonnant]] and [[étonnement]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Estoner'' “to be stunned”, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1220 – To strike with stupor, Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – The derivative ''étonnement''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 17th century – “To surprise”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|surprise]], astonish: ''cela m'étonne''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''S'étonner'': to be surprised, wonder: ''je m'étonne qu'il ne soit pas venu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To stun, overwhelm; to frighten.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(technical)'' To crack, shake (a vault, a diamond).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[étonnant]]

+ * [[étonnamment]]

+ * [[étonnement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tonner]]

+ * [[en|astonish]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}