traverser French · revision 17280

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la vertō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʁa.vɛʁ.se/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''traverser'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*trāversō]], an alteration of classical [[m|la|trānsversō|t=to stir crosswise, (late) to cross from side to side]], from [[m|la|trānsversus|t=crosswise]] (whence [[travers]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|13/2, 218b) “Trānsversus” is the participle of [[m|la|trānsvertō|t=to turn across]], from [[m|la|vertō|t=to turn]].^(GLLF 1989) Virgil used “transversare” in its rare sense “to stir crosswise”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|traversar]], [[ca|travessar]], [[es|travesar]] and [[it|traversare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) it is figurative, “to pierce through”; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''traversent quatre punz'', “they cross four bridges”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From about 1140 it meant to travel across a space from end to end, and in the second half of the 13th century to cross something lengthwise, such as a road or a river.^(TLFi) Of things without motion it meant “to stretch across” (Palissy, 1580: ''un chemin traverse la forêt''), and of a person to force a way through a crowd (1580).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 19th century it took the senses of going through a period (Delille, 1808, ''traverser les âges'', Lamartine, 1839) and of an idea flashing through the mind.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Old senses now gone are “to thwart, oppose” (1174–76) and “to torment” (1621).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the Académie dictionary of 1718 ''traversé de pluie'' means soaked to the skin; the noun ''traversée'' (1678) is a crossing, especially by sea.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – “To pierce”, ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Traversent quatre punz'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1140 – To travel across a space.^(TLFi)

+ * 1174–76 – “To thwart”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “To stretch across”, Palissy.^(TLFi)

+ * 1678 – The noun ''traversée''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1808 – To go through a period, Delille.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|cross]], go across: ''traverser la rue, un pont, la Manche''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To pass through, go through from end to end: ''traverser une ville, une forêt''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To pierce, penetrate, soak through: ''la pluie a traversé mon manteau'', ''une douleur le traversa''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # (of a road, a river) To run across: ''la route traverse le village''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # To go through (a period, a crisis): ''traverser une crise''.^(TLFi)

+ # (of an idea) To cross (the mind): ''une idée m'a traversé l'esprit''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[traversée]]

+ * [[traversable]]

+ * [[retraverser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[travers]]

+ * [[traverse]]

+ * [[transversal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}