imaginer French · revision 17379

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1290, Drouart la Vache|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.ma.ʒi.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''imaginer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French also ''ymaginer''.^(TLFi)^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|imāginor|t=to picture to oneself, imagine]], a word of the Imperial period derived from [[m|la|imāgō|t=image, likeness]] (see [[image]]).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 563a)

+

+ Compare [[oc|imaginar]], [[es|imaginar]] and [[it|immaginare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in 1290 in Drouart la Vache, meaning “to form an image of in the mind”: ''toz jors pense et ymagine a cele qui le tient en joie'' (“he always thinks of and imagines her who keeps him in joy”).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1314 it meant “to conceive the possibility of”, with ''imaginer que''; about 1460 Chastellain used it for “to devise, invent”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The reflexive is recorded in 1553, and ''s'imaginer'' “to fancy, believe without grounds” from 1636.^(TLFi) ''Vous n'imaginez pas…'' dates from 1779 and the parenthetic ''j'imagine'' “I suppose” from 1873.^(GLLF 1989) Related words were borrowed from Latin about the same time: [[imagination]] (12th century), [[imaginable]] (1295) and [[imaginaire]] (1496).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – ''Imagination''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1290 – In Drouart la Vache.^(TLFi)

+ * 1314 – ''Imaginer que'', in Henri de Mondeville.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – “To invent”, in Chastellain.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1636 – ''S'imaginer'' “to fancy”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1873 – ''J'imagine'' “I suppose”.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|imagine]], picture to oneself: ''j'imagine très bien la scène''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To suppose: ''j'imagine qu'il a voulu plaisanter''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To [[m|en|invent]], [[m|en|devise]]: ''imaginer un expédient''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''S'imaginer'': to picture oneself; to fancy, believe wrongly.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imaginatif]]

+ * [[inimaginable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[image]]

+ * [[imagination]]

+ * [[imaginaire]]

+ * [[imaginable]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}