épineux

Forms

épineux (feminine épineuse, masculine plural épineux, feminine plural épineuses)^[1] Old French espinus and espineus;^[2][1] épineux from 1636 (Monet).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French espineus, inherited from Latin spīnōsus (“covered with thorns, prickly, subtle”), from spīna (“thorn”) (the source of épine).^{[3][4][5][6][1]}

Cognate with Old Occitan espinos, Italian spinoso, Spanish espinoso and Portuguese espinhoso.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134) has Espinuse at la pel “it has a thorny skin”, in the concrete sense “covered with thorns”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The concrete Latin sense came first, and in the 20th century the word also became a noun for a thorny shrub (1945).^[4][3] A figurative sense “stinging” (before 1328) has become rare.^[4][3]

Of a person it meant “off-putting, always making difficulties” (1458),^[3][4] and of a thing “full of difficulties”, the common modern sense of question épineuse, from the 15th or 16th century.^[4][8] In anatomy Paré used it in 1561 for parts related to the spine, as in the muscle called épineux.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Espinuse in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[3][4]
• before 1328 – Figurative envie espineuse in the Ovide moralisé.^[3]
• 1458 – Used of a difficult person in Gréban's Mystère de la Passion.^[3][4]
• 1561 – Paré's anatomical sense.^[3][4]
• 1636 – Monet spells it épineux.^[2]
• 1945 – Noun “thorny shrub”, in Bosco.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. thorny, spiny: covered with thorns or prickles: un arbuste épineux.^[8][3]
2. (figurative) Full of difficulties, delicate, ticklish: une question épineuse, une affaire épineuse.^[8][2]
3. (dated) Of a person, raising difficulties over everything.^[2][7]
4. (anatomy) spinous, relating to a spine or spinous process.^[7][1]

Noun

1. A thorny shrub.^[8][1]

Related words

• épine
• Latin spīnōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d 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