Is it time to “close” the debate or to “close” it?
Frequent question if any, what difference is there between the two words when they designate "that which puts an end to"?
From the Latin “claudere” (“to close”), the defective verb “to close”, of identical meaning, was born in the 12th century.
It is then used when speaking of a trunk, a fist, a mouth, but also of a passage.
"Closing" one's property amounts to surrounding it with an enclosure, to blocking its openings.
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From the 15th century, we can read in the
Trésor de la langue française
, the term is understood in the figurative sense of “to stop”, “to fix”, “to finish”.
Example:
"close a quarry"
,
"close a deal"
,
"close the parliamentary session"
.
In modern French, it is clarified in the
Littré
, 'clore' has been partially replaced by 'fermer' (from the Latin 'firmare', 'assure', 'fortify') because of its homonymous collision with 'nail'.
“Closing one's eyelids”
thus became
“closing one's eyelids”
,
“closing the shutters”
,
“closing the shutters”
, and so on.
Except in a few phrases such as
“in camera”
and
“closed night”
.
“Fence”, figuratively?
The verb “to close” appeared in use at the end of the 18th century.
It has the exclusive meaning of “enclosing, enclosing with a fence”.
It is said of a meadow that it is fenced by the shepherd, of a garden that it is fenced by its owner.
As the French Academy explains, it is a derivative of "closing" (from the Latin "clausura", "end") and a more or less distant relative of words like "cloister", "key “, “nail” or “hatch”.
To read also “Passed (s) thirty years”: do not make the mistake!
Although some have attributed to it the meaning of "ending" - in 1930 the philosopher Raymond Ruyer wrote:
"It would be a great illusion to believe that the classification of the sciences, closed and finished, enclosed by sociology, embraces all 'universe'
- this verb is only used literally.
“It has no figurative meaning
, remind the sages.
And therefore cannot be used with the meaning of “finish” instead of verbs like “clore”, “conclude”, or periphrases like “put an end to”.
It should be noted, however, that the word "closing", alone, figuratively designates "to put an end to".
This is referred to as the "closure" of the Stock Exchange.