ancien

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɑ̃.sjɛ̃/^[1]
• IPA: /ɑ̃.sjɛ.n‿/^[1]

Forms

ancien (feminine ancienne, masculine plural anciens, feminine plural anciennes)^[1] Old French anciien, of three syllables, as it still often was in 17th-century verse.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French anciien, inherited from Late Latin anteānus (7th–8th century), from ante (“before”).^[5][6][1][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the three-syllable form is not the regular outcome of a popular “*antiānus”: the word's development was checked by clerics who were aware of its formation, Rey and the GLLF likewise call it a clerical, half-learned word.^[2][5][3] The Latin word had a value of rank rather than of time.^[5]

Bloch and Wartburg think Italian anziano and Spanish anciano, both irregular, may come from French.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Life of Saint Alexis (about 1050), meaning “that has existed for a long time”; the Chanson de Roland has il est escrit en l'anciene geste.^[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It long kept the value of rank: l'Ancien des jours is God (13th century) and les anciens high dignitaries, such as bishops' counsellors (1466).^[5] Of people it meant old, aged (mid-12th century), whence the familiar mon ancien (1781) and, rurally, “father, mother”.^[5][8] From 1080 it applies to earlier times and to the peoples and authors of antiquity, opposed to modernes.^[5]

Before a noun it means former (ancien élève, whence un ancien, 1810, son ancienne, 1873, a former mistress).^[5][1] In the 19th century meubles anciens and livres anciens came to mean valued antiques, opposed to vieux, à l'ancienne “in the traditional way” dates from 1935.^[5] In Africa and Oceania les anciens are the elders, objects of respect.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Life of Saint Alexis.^[3][5]
• c. 1100 – L'anciene geste, Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• 13th century – L'Ancien des jours.^[5]
• 1781 – Mon ancien.^[8]
• 1810 – Un ancien “former pupil”.^[5]
• 1935 – À l'ancienne.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (usually after the noun) old, ancient, long-established: une coutume ancienne, l'Ancien Testament.^[9][1]
2. (after the noun) Antique, valued for its age: meubles anciens.^[9][5]
3. Of antiquity: les langues anciennes.^[5]
4. (before the noun) former, ex-: un ancien ministre, son ancienne maison.^[1][5]
5. Senior in service: il est plus ancien que moi dans le grade.^[5][10]

Noun

1. An old person, mon ancien, a familiar form of address, (Africa) an elder.^[1][5][8]
2. Les Anciens: the ancients, the writers of antiquity.^[5]
3. A former pupil or member; a veteran.^[5]
4. À l'ancienne: in the traditional way.^[5][1]

Word family

• anciennement
• ancienneté

Related words

• antérieur
• antique
• avant

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ 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, 637b
8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ 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