lutter French · revision 38632

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ly.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lutter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|loiter]] (about 1100), then [[m|fro|luitier]] and [[m|fro|luiter]];^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''luiter'' lasted until the 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|frm|luiter]], [[inh|fro|luitier]], [[inh|la|luctō|t=to wrestle, struggle]], a less usual active form of the deponent [[m|la|luctor]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 439b) The Old French spellings with ⟨oi⟩ and ⟨ui⟩ show an initial vowel that wavered, although the vowel of the Latin verb was long; the TLFi finds this development unclear.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The reduction of ⟨ui⟩ to ⟨u⟩ dates only from the beginning of the 17th century, according to the TLFi and Rey,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) while the Grand Robert and the GLLF date the modern spelling to about 1460, in Villon.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ In Latin the verb was first a term of the gymnasium, and its form probably marks it as a frequentative.^(DHLF 1992) Rey considers the likeliest connection to be [[grc|λυγίζω|tr=lugízō|t=to bend, twist the limbs]], from [[m|grc|λύγος|tr=lúgos|t=chaste tree; pliant twig]], perhaps with other Indo-European words for bending, such as [[lt|lùgnas|t=flexible]] and [[non|lykna|t=to bend the knee]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lottare]], [[oc|luchar]], [[ca|lluitar]], [[es|luchar]], [[pt|lutar]] and [[ro|lupta]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) two fighters seize each other in their arms ''por loiter'', “to wrestle”: to strain to throw each other down, holding each other round the body.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From wrestling the verb spread to any effort to overcome an obstacle: in Adenet le Roi's ''Berte'' (about 1274) someone struggles against the wind.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Montaigne used it for “to vie with” (1588), Mathurin Régnier for two sides opposing each other to impose their will (1613), and Madame de Staël for things and forces acting against each other (1807).^(TLFi) The construction ''lutter de'' (“to vie in”) is recorded later.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ The transitive verb, “to fight (someone)” and, from 1545, “to repress (a feeling or desire)”, belonged to the classical language and is now archaic, like the pronominal ''se lutter'' “to fight one another”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From 1342 the verb was also said of a ram covering a ewe,^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) and the hunting term ''luites'' for a boar's testicles (1656) is a noun formed from that sense.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The noun [[lutte]] (about 1155) followed the same path, from bodily wrestling to any violent opposition and, in the 19th century, to the codified sport;^(DHLF 1992) ''lutte des classes'' is first found in Guizot (1828).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Loiter'' “to wrestle” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1155 – The noun ''lutte'' is first recorded.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – The agent noun ''luiteor'', later ''lutteur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1274 – Adenet le Roi uses it for struggling against an obstacle.^(TLFi)

+ * 1342 – Said of a ram covering a ewe, in ''Renart le Contrefait''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – The form ''lutter'' in Villon, according to the Grand Robert.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1545 – Transitive use, “to repress (a vice, a desire)”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1588 – Montaigne uses it for “to vie with”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1613 – Mathurin Régnier uses it for opposing someone to impose one's will.^(TLFi)

+ * 1807 – Madame de Staël applies it to things.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|wrestle]]: to grapple with an opponent and try to throw him down.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To [[m|en|fight]] or [[m|en|struggle]] against an opponent, a group or a nation, so as to impose one's will: ''lutter contre un ennemi'', ''deux partis qui luttent l'un contre l'autre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To strive hard against an obstacle, a force or an evil: ''lutter contre le froid'', ''lutter contre la pauvreté''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Lutter de'' (something) ''avec'' (someone): to [[m|en|vie]] with someone in some quality.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of things or forces: to act against each other.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(dated)'' Of a ram: to cover a ewe.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lutte]]

+ * [[lutteur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inéluctable]]

+ * [[la|luctor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}