supplier French · revision 17604

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1160, Énéas|origins=la plicō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sy.pli.je/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''supplier'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|sopleier]] (about 1130), [[m|fro|sosploier]], [[m|fro|souploier]] (12th century), [[m|fro|souplier]] (13th century); ''supplier'' from 1349 (Machaut).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|souploier]], [[inh|la|supplicō|t=to kneel; to pray, implore]], properly “to bend the knees”, formed from [[m|la|sub-]] and [[m|la|plicō|t=to fold]], and related to [[m|la|supplex|t=suppliant]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 14th century it was remade after the Latin form.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) The Old French verb also meant “to bend” (from a compound of [[ployer]]) and “to make up for”, since the verb from Latin [[m|la|suppleō]] (now [[suppléer]]) often took the same form; this homonymy, settled only in the 16th century, is one reason the learned spellings were adopted.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Cognate with [[pro|soplegar]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) Littré, following Festus, took the Latin verb from a form meaning “to appease”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Roman d'Énéas'' (about 1160) has ''sosploier'' for praying someone very insistently.^(TLFi) The GLLF dates ''soplier'' to about 1130.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the verb also meant to pay homage in sign of submission (1160–1170), to bow down (about 1175) and to weaken or soften (late 12th century).^(DHLF 1992) Guillaume de Machaut writes ''supplier a Dieu que'' in 1349, and ''supplier a quelqu'un que'' in 1377.^(TLFi) The construction ''supplier quelque chose à quelqu'un'' (1373) disappeared, leaving only ''supplier quelqu'un de'' (late 15th century, Commynes) or ''que''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Old petitions began with the formula ''Supplie humblement…''.^(Littré 1873) By exaggeration it is used as a strong polite request: ''je vous supplie de vous taire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Soplier''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Sosploier'' in ''Énéas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1349 – ''Supplier'' in Machaut.^(TLFi)

+ * 1373 – ''Supplier quelque chose à quelqu'un''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 15th century – ''Supplier quelqu'un de'', in Commynes.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|beg|alt=beg]], [[m|en|implore]] someone humbly and insistently: ''supplier quelqu'un à genoux'', ''je vous en supplie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To pray to God with complete humility.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(polite, by exaggeration)'' To ask insistently: ''je vous supplie de vous taire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[suppliant]]

+ * [[supplication]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[supplice]]

+ * [[souple]]

+ * [[plier]]

+ * [[la|supplicō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}