Etymologically
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cher

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃɛʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [ʃæɾ][1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [ʃæː][1]

Forms

cher (feminine chère, masculine plural chers, feminine plural chères)[1] Old French chier, Picard kier, quier.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chier, inherited from Latin cārus (“dear, beloved; costly, precious”).[4][5][6][7][1] The Latin word has cognates in Celtic, such as Old Irish carae (“friend”), and in Germanic, such as Old High German huora (“prostitute”), Wiktionary traces it to a Proto-Indo-European root “*keh₂-” “to desire”.[5][1]

Cognate with Italian caro, Occitan car, Catalan car, Spanish caro and Portuguese caro.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 980 in the Passion of Clermont, both as “beloved” and as “precious” (chera merz “costly goods”).[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Both Latin senses passed into French: “beloved” before the noun and in polite formulas (cher filz, about 1050), and “costly” mostly after the noun or as an attribute.[5][4] As an adverb it is used figuratively from the Chanson de Roland (vendre cher, about 1100), with coûter cher and payer cher from 1538 and faire payer cher “to make someone pay” from 1718.[4][5] Lacking an opposite, French says pas cher “cheap”.[5] The popular chérot “pricey” dates from 1883.[4]

Derivatives follow the two senses: chérir “to cherish” (11th century) on one side, cherté (12th century), enchérir and enchère (1259) on the other.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 980 – Chier “beloved” and “precious” in the Passion of Clermont.[4]
  • c. 1050 – Cher filz in the Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Vendre cher in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1259 – Enchère.[6]
  • 1538 – Coûter cher, payer cher, in Robert Estienne.[4]
  • 1718 – Faire payer cher “to take revenge”.[4]
  • 1883 – Chérot.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (before the noun or as attribute) dear, beloved: un être cher, cher ami.[9][1]
  2. (in letters and greetings) Dear: Cher Monsieur; as a noun mon cher, ma chère.[9][10]
  3. Precious, valued: sa mémoire nous est chère.[9]
  4. (after the noun) expensive, costly: une robe chère, la vie chère.[1][9]

Adverb

  1. At a high price: coûter cher, payer cher, pas cher: cheap.[4][5]

Noun

  1. (Louisiana) Dear, honey.[1]

Word family

  • chèrement
  • chérir
  • cherté
  • enchérir
  • enchère
  • chérot
  • charité
  • caresse
  • renchérir
  • surenchère

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 439b
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse