provoquer French · revision 17683

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Oxford Psalter|origins=la vocō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁɔ.vɔ.ke/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''provoquer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|purvoquer]], [[m|fro|purvocher]] (about 1120), ''provochier'' (late 12th century); ''provoquer'' from about 1265.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|prōvocō|t=to call out; to challenge; to provoke; to appeal]], first adapted as [[m|fro|purvoquer]] and later remodelled on the Latin.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|prō|t=forth, before]] and [[m|la|vocō|t=to call]], the source of [[vocation]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Cognate with [[pro|provocar]], [[es|provocar]] and [[it|provocare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the Oxford Psalter (about 1120) the eagle ''purvocanz a voler ses pulcins'' urges its young to fly: to incite someone by a kind of challenge or call.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start it took a person as object: ''provoquer quelqu'un à'', to urge someone to something, as in ''provoquer en duel'' (1669), and, used alone, to incite someone to violence, to irritate (about 1120).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In law it meant to take the initiative or to appeal (1476).^(DHLF 1992) Rousseau (1762) used it of a woman exciting desire by her bearing, whence the modern sense of [[provocant]] (1776).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ With a thing as object it means to be the cause of something, from the mid-15th century, especially in medicine (''provoquer le sommeil'', ''provoquer la sueur'' in Paré).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Related words are [[provocateur]] (1501) and [[provocation]] (14th century).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Purvocanz'' in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – To incite to violence, in the ''Livre des Rois''.^(TLFi)

+ * Mid-15th century – “To cause, bring about”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1476 – Legal sense “to appeal”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1669 – ''Provoquer en duel''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1762 – Rousseau: to excite desire.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|incite]] someone to do something, as by a challenge: ''provoquer quelqu'un à la violence'', ''provoquer en duel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To [[m|en|provoke]], [[m|en|defy]] (someone) by aggressive words or behaviour: ''c'est lui qui m'a provoqué''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To excite (someone's) desire by one's attitude.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To cause, bring about: ''provoquer un accident'', ''provoquer le sommeil''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[provocation]]

+ * [[provocateur]]

+ * [[vocation]]

+ * [[la|prōvocō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}