parcourir French · revision 38602

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, manuscript of Wace, Roman de Rou|origins=la currō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /paʁ.ku.ʁiʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parcourir'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|percurrō|t=to run through, run over; to survey, pass in review]], adapted after [[courir]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|per|t=through]] and [[m|la|currō|t=to run]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Littré and Wiktionary analyse it as [[par-]] and the French verb, formed to render the Latin.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Grand Robert and the GLLF start from an Old French [[m|fro|parcorre]] in Wace (about 1155);^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) the TLFi's first record is an isolated reading in a 13th-century manuscript of a poem by Wace, after which the verb returns only at the start of the 16th century as [[m|frm|percourrir]] (Fossetier).^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 15th century, beside [[parcours]] (1286), both taken from Latin and refashioned after the French words.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In its first record, a 13th-century manuscript of Wace's ''Roman de Rou'', it means to go through a place or visit it in all its parts.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After this isolated record the verb reappears at the beginning of the 16th century, following the noun ''parcours'' in the same sense.^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it also meant “to pursue at a run” (Baïf, 1573), now obsolete, and customary law had ''droit de parcourir'', the right to graze one's animals on unenclosed land (1624, customs of Gorze).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The sense of reading quickly and superficially, taken from Latin, is first found in Montaigne (1588), and ''parcourir des yeux'', to run one's eyes over, in Racine (1669).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 17th century it came to be said of things that go from one end to the other, first figuratively (Boileau, 1671–1682), then literally (Rollin, 1731–1738), and of covering a set distance (late 17th century, Malebranche).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey notes that the verb gave only rare derivatives, ''parcoureur'' and ''parcourable'' (20th century).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1155 – Old French ''parcorre'' in Wace.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 13th century – ''Parcourir'' in a manuscript of Wace's ''Roman de Rou''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1286 – The noun ''parcours''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * Early 16th century – ''Percourrir'' (Fossetier).^(TLFi)

+ * 1573 – Baïf: “to pursue at a run”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1588 – Montaigne: to read quickly.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1624 – ''Droit de parcourir'', a grazing right.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669 – Racine: ''parcourir des yeux''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671–1682 – Boileau: of a thing going from end to end.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To go through all parts of (a place), to [[m|en|travel]] all over: ''parcourir la Bretagne à vélo''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(Le Robert)

+ # Of a thing: to travel across, run through: ''un frisson lui parcourut le dos''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To cover (a set distance or route).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To read quickly, [[m|en|skim]]: ''parcourir une lettre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To look over the parts of a whole: ''parcourir la foule du regard''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(nautical)'' ''Parcourir les coutures'': to go over every seam of a ship with a chisel to check it.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[courir]]

+ * [[parcours]]

+ * [[la|percurrō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}