agneau

Forms

agneau m (plural agneaux)^[1] Old French anel (11th century), aignel (early 12th century), agnel, aigniau;^[2][3][4][5] agneau from the 13th to 15th century.^[2][3][4][5] Old French declined it: subject case li agnaus, object case le agnel.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French agnel, inherited from Latin agnellus (“little lamb”), a diminutive of agnus (“lamb”).^{[2][6][4][1][7]} The TLFi calls it borrowed from Latin, and notes that in Latin the diminutive gradually took over most of the senses of the simple noun, including the religious one.^[8][1] Bloch and Wartburg point out that the diminutive was already classical beside the simple noun, which survives in Italian agno and Portuguese anho, while its feminine agna survived only in Old French aigne.^[6] Rey adds that the Latin noun goes back to Indo-European, like a Greek word for lamb.^[2]

Cognate with Italian agnello, Old Occitan anhel, Catalan anyell and Romanian miel.^[9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the early 12th century in the Oxford Psalter (li aignel des öeilles “the lambs of the sheep”), meaning the young of a ewe.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century it also named lambskin fur, as in the Roman de la Rose.^[8][2] Butchers' use follows: lambs sold for meat (1665) and the meat itself (1694, Académie).^[8][2]

The religious sense comes from Christian Latin: Christ as the sacrificial lamb (1289), agneau de Dieu (1550), and the Passover lamb, agneau pascal (15th century).^[8][2] As an emblem the lamb gave the name of a gold coin, agnel (1310), and a figure in heraldry (1690).^[2][8] Figuratively it names a very gentle person, usual from the 17th century, and mes agneaux! became a familiar form of address (1871, Zola).^[2]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – Aignel appears in the Oxford Psalter.^[8]
• 13th century – It names lambskin fur, in the Roman de la Rose.^[8][2]
• 1289 – Renart le Nouvel uses it of Christ.^[8]
• 1310 – Agnel names a gold coin.^[2]
• 1550 – Agneau de Dieu is recorded.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records manger de l'agneau for the meat.^[8][2]
• 1871 – Zola uses mes agneaux! as a form of address.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lamb, the young of a ewe, under a year old.^[10][8][1]
2. Lamb as meat.^[10][1]
3. Lambskin, lamb's fur.^[10][3][1]
4. (figurative) A very gentle, meek person;^[10][3] doux comme un agneau “as gentle as a lamb”.^[10][3]
5. (religion) L'Agneau de Dieu: Jesus Christ;^[10][5] agneau pascal: the Passover lamb.^[10][5]

Word family

• agneler
• agnelet
• agnelin

Related words

• agnelle
• Latin agnus

Usage notes

The derivatives agneler, agnelet and agnelin are formed on the old form agnel.^[2] The Latin agnus was borrowed in Agnus Dei, the prayer of the Mass.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 264a
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert