Etymologically
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égal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.ɡal/[1]

Forms

égal (feminine égale, masculine plural égaux, feminine plural égales)[1] Old French igal (about 1150), egal (about 1160), esgal; the inherited forms uel, oel, evel, ivel lasted until the 15th century.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is a remaking, after borrowed from Latin aequālis (“equal; even; level”), of the popular Old French forms that had come from that Latin word by regular sound change.[2][3][6][5][7] The Latin adjective is derived from aequus (“level, even; fair”) (see équi-).[3][6] Wiktionary thinks it even more likely that the French word was borrowed from Old Occitan egal, in which the form is the regular outcome.[1]

Bloch and Wartburg note that Italian uguale and Spanish igual are popular forms; compare also Portuguese igual and Occitan egal.[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Thèbes (about 1150) has igal of a value or quality that is the same in several things;[2] Wace has egal painnes and egal jugement about 1160.[2]

Semantic evolution

Wace (1155) also applies it to a person of the same rank as another, the idea that in the 18th century, with égalité, became an ideological theme: that all people are, or should be, equal before the law.[2][3] It was used of quantities and sizes about 1165, and of a level, even surface at the same time.[2] Montaigne (1580) has it for what does not vary, as in a chaleur temperée et égale, and à l'esgal de “as much as” (1595).[2][3]

In the 17th century Corneille uses it for “impartial” (Horace, 1641) and so “indifferent”, and then for what is a matter of indifference: la chose m'est égale (1663).[2][3] From this came c'est égal “all the same” (1779) and ça m'est égal “I don't mind” (1814).[3][9] The noun gave sans égale (Corneille, 1641) and traiter d'égal à égal.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1119 – The inherited form evel, in Philippe de Thaon.[2]
  • c. 1150 – Igal, in the Roman de Thèbes.[2]
  • c. 1160 – Egal, in Wace.[2]
  • 1580 – “Unvarying”, in Montaigne.[2]
  • 1641 – “Impartial” and sans égale, in Corneille.[2]
  • 1663 – La chose m'est égale.[2]
  • 1779 – C'est égal.[9][3]
  • 1814 – Ça m'est égal.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Equal in quantity, size, value or quality: des parts égales, sept plus trois est égal à dix.[8][4]
  2. Of people, of the same rank or with the same rights: égaux devant la loi.[3][8]
  3. Even, level, unvarying: un terrain égal, d'humeur égale.[6][2]
  4. Égal à soi-même: unchanged, always the same.[2][3]
  5. Ça m'est égal: I don't mind, it's all the same to me, c'est égal, all the same.[3][1]
  6. Toutes choses égales d'ailleurs: all other things being equal.[8][1]

Noun

  1. An equal: d'égal à égal, sans égal, unequalled.[3][1]
  2. À l'égal de: as much as, like.[10][3]

Word family

  • également
  • égaler
  • égalité
  • égaliser
  • égalisation
  • inégal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 212b
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)