épars

Forms

épars (feminine éparse, masculine plural épars, feminine plural éparses)^[1] Old French espars, feminine esparse; the spelling épars is recorded from 1636 (Monet).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French espars, the past participle, used as an adjective, of Old French espardre (“to separate, scatter, spread”) (1119, in use until the 16th century),^[2][4][5] inherited from Latin spargō (“to scatter, sprinkle”).^[2][4][6] Littré gives the Latin participle sparsus and the Burgundian verb épardre (“to scatter”).^[7] Rey connects the Latin verb with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *spher- (“to scatter, sow”).^[4]

The Latin verb survives in all the Romance languages, as in Italian spargere and Spanish esparcir.^[5] It is also the source of asperger and disperser; éparpiller, of disputed origin, does not seem to belong to the same family.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1165 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, of ships esparses, “spread here and there”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its 12th-century sense, “spread here and there”; from about 1275 it was used especially of hair in disorder.^[4][3] In the classical period it was also said of people, in the strong sense of “dispersed, split up”.^[4] It is mostly used in the plural of concrete things; figurative uses with a singular subject, such as an esprit épars “a scattered mind”, or of a person wandering at random, have become archaic.^[4]

Littré also records a botanical use, feuilles éparses, for leaves set round the stem in no apparent order.^[7] The adverb éparsement (about 1190) is rare and literary.^[4]

Timeline

• 1119 – The verb espardre “to scatter” is recorded in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2][4]
• c. 1165 – Esparses “spread here and there” in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[2]
• c. 1190 – First record of the adverb éparsement.^[4]
• c. 1275 – Used of hair in disorder.^[4]
• 16th century – Espardre goes out of use.^[4][5]
• 1636 – Monet records the spelling épars.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Scattered here and there, dispersed: des fermes éparses dans la vallée.^[8][2][9]
2. Cheveux épars: hair that is loose or in disorder.^[8][7]
3. Of ideas or memories: disconnected, fragmentary: souvenirs épars.^[8][7]
4. (botany) Feuilles éparses: leaves set round the stem in no apparent order.^[7]

Word family

• éparsement

Related words

• disperser
• asperger
• Latin spargō

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a second, unrelated épart or épars (masculine noun, old or regional, “heat lightning”), first found as espart in the 12th century and formed from épartir “to open”, said of the sky;^[9] Littré records it as a sailors' term for small flashes of lightning without thunder.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 134a
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert