réponse French · revision 17185

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure (response)|origins=la respondeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁe.pɔ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''réponse''' ''f'' (plural réponses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''response'', ''reponse'' in Joinville (late 13th century). The Académie wrote ''response'' in 1694 and 1718, ''réponse'' from 1740.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a feminine form, [[der|fro|respons|t=answer]] (now [[répons]]), from [[la|respōnsum|t=answer]], the neuter past participle of [[m|la|respondeō|t=to answer]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|10, 312b) The ⟨n⟩ was kept before ⟨s⟩ after the verb [[répondre]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Compare [[pro|respos]] and “resposa”; elsewhere the words come from the participle of the verb, as [[it|risposta]] and [[es|respuesta]] (whence French [[riposte]]).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1165 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's ''Roman de Troie'', in ''faire response'', to give an answer.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The masculine ''respons'' was used in the same general sense in the Middle Ages, as in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (''ne fist autre respunt'').^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Brunetto Latini (about 1265) writes of bringing letters with one's answer, and ''rendre response'' is found in 1316.^(TLFi) Ronsard (1563) uses it for a written refutation, the sense of Pascal's ''droit de réponse'', which is recorded in 1923.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Later specialisations are musical (Rousseau, 1753), financial (1867, on the stock exchange) and biological, a reaction of an organism (Alexis Carrel, 1935).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Phrases include ''réponse normande'' (1684), later ''réponse de Normand'' (Académie, 1798), an evasive answer, and ''avoir réponse à tout'' (1722).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1165 – ''Faire response'', Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – An answering letter, Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * late 13th century – Spelt ''reponse'' by Joinville.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1563 – A refutation, Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1684 – ''Réponse normande''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1740 – The Académie spells it ''réponse''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1753 – A musical sense, Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1935 – The reaction of an organism, Carrel.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|answer]], [[m|en|reply]] to a question or request: ''donner une réponse'', ''en réponse à''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A letter sent in reply: ''je n'ai pas encore sa réponse''.^(Larousse)

+ # A solution to a problem or question.^(GLLF 1989)^(Le Robert)

+ # A [[m|en|retort]], refutation: ''droit de réponse'', the right of reply.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|reaction]], response of an organism or system: ''réponse immunitaire''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Réponse de Normand'': an evasive answer, ''avoir réponse à tout'', to have an answer for everything.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[répondre]]

+ * [[répons]]

+ * [[riposte]]

+ * [[correspondre]]

+ * [[la|respōnsum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}