Etymologically
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an

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Pronunciation

Forms

an m (plural ans)[1]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin annus (“year; annual harvest”).[2][3][4][5][6] Rey describes the Latin word as apparently native to Italy, close to Oscan akenei (“in the year”), Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *atnos and Proto-Indo-European *h₂et-no-, probably from a root *h₂et- (“to go”).[3][1] Littré reports older comparisons with Greek and Celtic words and with Oscan “amnud”, none of them settled.[7]

Cognate with Romanian an, Italian anno, Occitan an, Catalan any, Spanish año and Portuguese ano.[8][5] In the Gallo-Romance dialects it is less used than année.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the mid-11th century in the Vie de saint Alexis, as a unit of time: Dis e set anz … penat son cors “for seventeen years he mortified his body”.[2]

Semantic evolution

About 1100 the Chanson de Roland uses it to measure age, saying of Charlemagne that he is two hundred years old and more.[2] Phrases followed: mal an “misfortune” (1144), par an (1273), l'an de grâce (1260), le jour de l'an (14th century), le nouvel an (1611) and bon an mal an “taking good years with bad” (first half of the 17th century, Scarron).[2][3] The service held a year after a death is le bout de l'an (1549).[3]

In the plural ans marked age and the passing of time: mes vieux ans (1636, Corneille), le poids des ans, chargés d'ans and jeunes ans have given way to années.[2][3] The opposition between an, a point in time, and the derivative année (about 1170), a duration, faded at the end of the 13th century, though some phrases keep an (le nouvel an, l'an mil).[8][3] Racehorses are called un deux ans, un trois ans (1856).[3]

Timeline

  • Mid-11th century – Anz in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Used of age, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1144 – Mal an “misfortune”.[2]
  • c. 1170 – The derivative année.[3]
  • 1260 – L'an de grâce.[3][2]
  • 14th century – Le jour de l'an.[3][2]
  • 1611 – Le nouvel an.[3]
  • 1656 – Bon an mal an in Scarron.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A year, as a unit of time: vingt ans après, tant par an.[8][9]
  2. A year of age: Elle a quarante ans.[8]
  3. A year as a point in time: l'an dernier, l'an prochain, l'an 2000.[8][9]
  4. Le jour de l'an, le nouvel an: New Year's Day.[8][3]
  5. Bon an mal an: on average, taking one year with another.[9][8]
  6. (poetic) Les ans: the passing years, age.[8][7]

Word family

  • annuel
  • anniversaire
  • antan
  • Latin annus

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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. 24, 623a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse