terminer French · revision 17224

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1155, Wace|origins=la terminus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɛʁ.mi.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terminer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|terminō|t=to mark the boundary of, limit; to end, finish]], from [[m|la|terminus|t=boundary, limit]] (whence [[terme]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|13/1, 237b) Wiktionary takes the Old French verb as a borrowing inherited into modern French.^(Wiktionary) Old French also had “aterminer” “to fix a term”, from Late Latin “adterminare”, which took over several of its legal senses.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compare [[pro|termenar]], [[es|terminar]] and [[it|terminare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace's ''Brut'' (1155) has ''terminer mal'' “to wish evil (on someone)”, to destine something for someone; about 1175 it meant “to determine, fix, decide”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was early linked with the idea of an end: “to recover” from an illness (about 1200) and, from the 14th to the 17th century, “to die”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The sense “to finish, complete” is found about 1245, and “to bring to an end, put an end to” in Amyot (1559), who has ''terminer ceste guerre''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) From the 16th century it meant to bound in space (before 1558) and in time (Calvin, 1541), and, from 1610 to form the last element of something (words ''terminez en ent'').^(TLFi) The pronominal ''se terminer'' appears in the 16th century (Montaigne, 1580) and ''se terminer par'' in a temporal sense in 1764.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 1745 ''terminer'' a work of art meant to give it the finishing touches.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1155 – ''Terminer mal'', Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – “To decide, fix”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – “To recover”, ''L'Escoufle''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1245 – “To finish”, ''Saint Auban''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370 – ''Interminable''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1559 – “To put an end to”, Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Se terminer'', Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|finish]], complete: ''terminer un travail'', ''en avoir terminé avec''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To end, bring to an end: ''terminer une séance'', ''terminer la soirée chez des amis''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To form the end of: ''un point termine la phrase'', ''terminer par'', to end with.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To finish, end: ''j'ai terminé'', ''pour terminer''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se terminer'': to end, come to an end: ''le film se termine bien'', ''se terminer en pointe''.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[terminé]]

+ * [[interminable]]

+ * [[terminaison]]

+ * [[terminatif]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terme]]

+ * [[terminal]]

+ * [[terminateur]]

+ * [[terminus]]

+ * [[déterminer]]

+ * [[exterminer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}