bonhomme

Forms

bonhomme m (plural bonshommes or bonhommes, feminine bonne femme)^[1] As a noun the plural is bonshommes /bɔ̃.zɔm/; the childish plural bonhommes spread in the 20th century.^[2][3] As an adjective the only plural is bonhommes.^[4][2] Anglo-Norman wrote bonhome, bonhume and bonum.^[5]

Etymology

It is formed from French bon (“good”) + homme (“man”), written as one word.^[6][7][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg list it among the compounds of the noun and date it to the 12th century,^[8] and the FEW files it under Latin homō (“man”).^[9]

Littré compares Walloon bouname and the Namur form boulome “man, husband”, and thinks the peasant used the word of himself as “the man of the house” before soldiers made it a nickname for him.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1175 in the sense “good man”, a man who is kind and upright, a sense now archaic.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century the word also meant a peasant or commoner, as opposed to the nobility;^[3][6][5] that sense is gone, but it survives in Jacques Bonhomme, the nickname of the French peasant under the Ancien Régime.^[3][7] The same idea of low standing lies behind the later senses “naive, credulous man” (1665) and the use as a form of address to a man of lower rank in the 17th century.^[3]

In the 14th century it could mean a deceived husband,^[3] and in a 14th-century quarrel quoted by Littré a man retorts that he is no bon homme because his wife is honest.^[10] From 1536 it named a man of mature or advanced age.^[3] In familiar speech it now simply means “man, fellow”;^[3][2] petit bonhomme “little boy” dates from 1762.^[3][2]

The phrase aller son petit bonhomme de chemin (1803) “to go on one's way steadily” is unexplained in its use of petit bonhomme.^[3][4] By extension bonhomme came to mean a crudely drawn or modelled human figure (1831), as in bonhomme de neige;^[3] the Petit Robert dates this sense 1863.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – First recorded, meaning “good man”.^[3]
• 13th century – Used for a peasant or commoner.^[3][6]
• 1247 – Anglo-Norman bonhome “commoner”, used as a surname.^[5]
• 1359 – Jaques Bonhomme is recorded as the peasant's nickname.^[3]
• 14th century – Used of a deceived husband.^[3]
• 1536 – Used of an elderly man.^[3]
• 1665 – The sense “naive, credulous man” appears.^[3]
• 1736 – The derivative bonhommie (now bonhomie) is first recorded.^[3][8]
• 1762 – Petit bonhomme “little boy” is recorded.^[3]
• 1803 – First record of aller son petit bonhomme de chemin.^[3][11]
• 1831 – Used for a roughly drawn or modelled human figure.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. good-natured, showing bonhomie, easygoing: un air bonhomme.^[2][12]

Noun

1. (archaic) A good, kind, upright man.^[2][4]
2. (dated) A simple, credulous man: un bonhomme de mari.^[2][7]
3. Faux bonhomme: a hypocrite who feigns kindness.^[7][4]
4. (dated) An elderly man.^[2][7]
5. (familiar) A man, a fellow, a chap: un drôle de bonhomme.^[2][1]
6. (familiar) A term of affection for a little boy: mon bonhomme, petit bonhomme.^[2][3]
7. A roughly drawn or modelled human figure: bonhomme de neige “snowman”.^[2][3][1]
8. (historical) A peasant, a commoner;^[7][10] Jacques Bonhomme, the French peasant.^[7][10]
9. (Louisiana, Missouri) A scarecrow.^[1]

Word family

• bonhomie
• faux bonhomme
• bonhomme de neige

Related words

• bon
• homme
• bonne femme
• Latin homō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 455a
10. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)