retour French · revision 17302

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=early 12th century, Voyage de saint Brendan (return)|origins=la tornō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁə.tuʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''retour''' ''m'' (plural retours)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|return]] (about 1112), [[m|fro|retur]] (about 1155, Wace), [[m|fro|retor]] (about 1160); ''retour'' from about 1185.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun [[der|fr|retourner|t=to return]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) The verb is formed on [[tourner]], from [[la|tornō|t=to turn on a lathe]].^(FEW|13/2, 65a) Littré analyses it as [[re-]] and [[tour]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|retorn]], [[es|retorno]] and [[it|ritorno]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record, in the ''Voyage of Saint Brendan'' (early 12th century), is the act of setting off back to where one came from; about 1165 it is the journey back, and in Chrétien de Troyes' ''Perceval'' the moment of arrival.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 12th century it also meant a movement in the opposite direction (Wace) and a bend or turn (''el retor d'un fossé'', about 1210), later used in architecture (1671).^(TLFi) ''Être de retour'' is recorded in 1549, and ''être sur le retour'' “to be about to leave” in 1680, later “to be getting on in years”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) In commerce it named goods brought back by a ship (Colbert, 1669) and an unpaid bill sent back (1679).^(TLFi) ''Par retour du courrier'' is found in 1857.^(BHVF)

+

+ The 19th and 20th centuries added many phrases: ''retour offensif'' (1842), ''choc en retour'' (1842), ''billets d'aller et retour'' (Mallarmé, 1874), ''retour de flamme'' (1890), ''match retour'' (1905), ''retour de manivelle'' (1906) and ''retour en force'' (1946).^(TLFi) In cybernetics ''alimentation en retour'' rendered English ''feedback'' (1951);^(TLFi) today ''retour'' itself can mean feedback.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 12th century – ''Return'', ''Voyage of Saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The journey back.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1210 – A bend.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Être de retour''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669 – Return cargo, Colbert.^(TLFi)

+ * 1857 – ''Par retour du courrier''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1874 – ''Billets d'aller et retour'', Mallarmé.^(TLFi)

+ * 1905 – ''Match retour''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|return]]: going or coming back to where one started; the journey back: ''le retour à la maison'', ''être de retour''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Sending back, return of something to its sender: ''par retour du courrier''.^(TLFi)

+ # A movement back, a recurrence: ''le retour du printemps'', ''retour en arrière''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''En retour'': in return, ''retour de bâton'', ''retour de manivelle'': backlash.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|feedback]], comment on something done.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sports)'' ''Match retour'': the return match.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(computing)'' ''Retour à la ligne'': a line break.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aller-retour]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[retourner]]

+ * [[tour]]

+ * [[tourner]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}