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après-midi

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Etymology and origin of the French word après-midi

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1514 More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origins
Latin ad pressumOld French mi
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French après
French après-midi

Pronunciation

  • /a.pʁɛ.mi.di/[1]

Forms

après-midi m or f (plural après-midi or après-midis)[1] Older spelling après midy (17th century).[2]

Etymology

It is a compound from French après + midi, meaning after noon.[3][4][5][6][1][7] The noun midi is itself a compound of mi and an old word for day, from Latin diēs.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert date it to 1514,[8][3] the DHLF to 1549.[10] It named the part of the day from noon to evening.[6][10]

Semantic evolution

The word was masculine at first; the feminine is recorded from 1704.[10] The Académie's 8th edition made it masculine and its 9th accepts both genders;[3] Dauzat thought the initial a had drawn it to the feminine.[3] Rey ties its success to the contrast with soirée, marked by the usual hour of the evening meal, whereas matinée was enough for the part before noon.[10] The familiar clipping aprèm is recorded from 1906.[4] Beside it, avant-midi survives in France only regionally but is very much alive in Quebec and Belgium.[10]

Timeline

  • 1514 – First record.[8][3]
  • 1549 – Date given by Rey.[10]
  • 1704 – First feminine use.[10]
  • 1876 – Mallarmé's poem L'Après-midi d'un faune.[2]
  • 1906 – The clipping aprèm is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The afternoon, the part of the day between noon or lunch and the evening or dinner: nous partirons dans l'après-midi.[4][11][12][2]
  2. (in apposition) After a day's name, in the afternoon of that day: jeudi après-midi.[4][12]

Word family

  • aprèm

Usage notes

Après-midi is masculine or feminine: cet après-midi and cette après-midi are both correct.[3][4][2] In traditional spelling it is invariable, des après-midi; the 1990 spelling reform allows des après-midis.[2][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 72a
  8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Après-midi.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/apr%C3%A8s-midi. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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