fixer French · revision 17118

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1330|origins=la fīgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fixer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|fixe|-er]], from the adjective [[fixe]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) “Fixe” (13th century, written “fix”, rare before the 16th century) is borrowed from [[la|fīxus|t=fixed]], past participle of [[m|la|fīgō|t=to fix, fasten]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The slang “se fixer” “to inject drugs” (about 1970) is from [[en|fix]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert date it to 1330; the GLLF finds it in 1340 in the sense “to tax someone”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) Raoul de Presles (1371–75) has ''étoiles fixees'', the fixed stars.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Fixer les yeux'' is in Octavien de Saint-Gelais (15th century), whence ''fixer qqn'' “to stare at someone” in Rousseau's ''Nouvelle Héloïse'' (1760), a use Voltaire condemned.^(TLFi) Montaigne (1580) has it for settling something, and Racine (1672) for determining: ''le combat doit, dit-on, fixer nos destinées''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) Furetière (1690) records several senses, and fastening an object in place is in Bossuet (before 1669); ''fixer son domicile'' is to settle somewhere.^(GLLF 1989) In the 1970s drug slang took up ''se fixer'' from English.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1330 – First recorded.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1371–75 – ''Étoiles fixees''.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – ''Fixer les yeux''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – To settle, Montaigne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1672 – To determine, Racine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1760 – ''Fixer qqn'', Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1970 – ''Se fixer'', drug slang.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|fix]], fasten, attach: ''fixer un cadre au mur''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To settle, establish: ''fixer sa résidence à Lyon'', ''se fixer'', to settle down.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To set, decide on (a date, a price, a rule): ''fixer un rendez-vous'', ''fixer les conditions''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To stare at: ''fixer qqn'', ''fixer les yeux sur''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To hold, make steady: ''fixer l'attention''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(slang)'' ''Se fixer'': to inject drugs.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fixation]]

+ * [[fixage]]

+ * [[fixateur]]

+ * [[fixatif]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fixe]]

+ * [[fixité]]

+ * [[la|fīxus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}