combattre French · revision 17648

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la battuō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ̃.batʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''combattre'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|cumbatre]], [[m|fro|combatre]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|cumbatre]], [[inh|la-vul|*combattō]], an alteration of Late Latin [[m|la-lat|combattuō|t=to fight with]] (6th century), formed from [[m|la|cum|t=with]] and [[m|la|battuō|t=to beat]], the source of [[battre]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 936a) Wiktionary adds that the Latin verb is of Gaulish origin.^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[pro|combatre]], [[es|combatir]] and [[it|combattere]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) ''soi cumbatre a'' means to fight against someone: ''Puis m'en cumbatre a Charle e a Franceis''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the verb was intransitive, often in the pronominal form; it became transitive in the 15th and 16th centuries (''combatre qqn'', late 14th century).^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Since the 17th century it has had figurative values: to measure oneself against someone, as in Corneille's ''Rodrigue dans mon cœur combat encor mon père'' (1636), and to fight against a thing (1636, Monet).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The sense “to vie with someone” (''combattre de politesse'', 1740) is obsolete, but other metaphors have widened its use, as in ''combattre l'inflation''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Derivatives are [[combattant]] (1080 in the DHLF, 1472 in Bloch and Wartburg) and [[combat]] (1530).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Cumbatre'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – Transitive ''combatre qqn''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – The noun ''combat''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1636 – Corneille: to struggle against, Monet: to fight a thing.^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – The Académie: to vie with someone.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|fight]] (an enemy, an opponent); to wage war on: ''combattre l'ennemi''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To fight, take part in a battle: ''combattre pour la liberté''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To [[m|en|oppose]], struggle against (an idea, a person): ''combattre une hérésie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To try to stop or overcome (an evil, a phenomenon): ''combattre un incendie'', ''combattre la maladie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Combattre le mal par le mal'': to fight fire with fire.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[combat]]

+ * [[combattant]]

+ * [[combativité]]

+ * [[combatif]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[battre]]

+ * [[la-lat|combattuō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}