ardeur

Forms

ardeur f (plural ardeurs)^[1] Old French ardor, ardur, ardour; the form ardeur is found from about 1225.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ardor, borrowed from Latin ardor (“burning, glow; intense desire”), from ardeō (“to burn”).^[2][1][4][5] Rey treats it as a borrowing of the 12th century, while Bloch and Wartburg simply give the Latin accusative ardōrem as its source, without calling it a borrowing.^[2][6] The Old French forms were remade into the present one about 1225.^[2] Littré notes that 16th-century writers, out of zeal for the etymology, made it masculine against usage.^[3]

Compare Italian ardore, Occitan ardor, Catalan ardor, Spanish ardor and Portuguese ardor.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to 1130, in a translation of the Book of Job.^[4][8] Its first sense was “intense heat”, used for example of the fire of hell, then a burning sensation.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The concrete senses faded as the verb ardre died out and other words linked to feu and brûler took their place;^[2] ardeur de la fièvre (1550) and ardeur d'estomac (1783) are archaic.^[2] The psychological uses, taken straight from Latin, held better: they are old (about 1170) and moved from “intense desire” to “active energy” as the image of fire was lost.^[2] The sense “religious fervour” (1226) is archaic; modern French uses the word mainly for “zeal, energy” (15th century) and for “amorous passion” (since 1190).^[2]

A related noun ardure “burn, heat”, from Late Latin ardura, was used from the 12th to the 16th century.^[2] English ardor (mid-15th century) came from that Old French ardure.^[9]

Timeline

• 1130 – First recorded, in a translation of the Book of Job.^[4][8]
• c. 1170 – First psychological uses.^[2]
• 1190 – It is used for amorous passion.^[2]
• c. 1225 – The form ardeur replaces ardor, ardur.^[2]
• 1226 – It means religious fervour.^[2]
• Mid-15th century – English ardour is recorded.^[9]
• 15th century – The sense “zeal, energy” appears.^[2]
• 1550 – Ardeur de la fièvre is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) Heat of great intensity: l'ardeur du soleil, les ardeurs de l'été.^[10][11]
2. (dated) A burning sensation, as of fever or thirst.^[4][8]
3. (figurative) Energy full of liveliness, zeal, eagerness: l'ardeur au travail, travailler avec ardeur.^[10][3]
4. (figurative) Fervour, passion in feelings;^[10][8] l'ardeur des sens, sexual desire;^[10][8] (familiar) modérez vos ardeurs “calm down”.^[10][8]

Related words

• ardent
• ardre
• ardoir
• aride
• Latin ardor

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 151a
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)