Etymologically
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chez

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃe/[1]
  • IPA: /ʃe.z‿/[1]

Forms

chez[1] Old French chiés.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chiés, inherited from Latin casa (“house, hut”), with an irregular final that the TLFi and Rey explain by the word's unstressed position before a noun.[3][2][4][5] The FEW also considers a rare Latin form “casus”, a blend of “casa” with “domus” or “mansus”, which Rey thinks unnecessary, Wiktionary mentions a Proto-Romance dative-genitive “case”.[3][2][1] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF derive it from phrases such as Old French “en chies”, popular Latin “in casa” “in the house”, but the TLFi notes that “enchiés” is not found before the early 13th century.[6][7][3] The Grand Robert gives Old French chiese (“house”).[4]

Similar prepositions are Old Spanish “en cas de” and Languedocian “a co de”, Picard and Walloon made a preposition “mon” from phrases with “maison”.[6][2] “Chez” is a doublet of case.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Couronnement de Louis (1130–1160): chiés Simon “at Simon's house”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From “in the house of” it came to mean “in the country of” (1680–1681) and “among a group of people” and “in the time of” (1694, Académie).[3][2] The figurative chez Plutarque “in the work of Plutarch” (1580, Montaigne) was condemned by Vaugelas but has spread; the sense “in the mind of” (before 1592) has disappeared.[3][2] De chez is found from 1195.[3]

In many regions, and in Switzerland and Quebec, chez with a surname means “the family so-and-so”, bien de chez nous means “authentic, typically French”, and nul de chez nul is a jocular intensive.[2] The noun chez-soi dates from the 17th century (1690–1694).[2][6] English has used chez with French names, “at the house of”, since 1740.[8]

Timeline

  • 1130–1160 – Chiés Simon in the Couronnement de Louis.[3]
  • 1195 – De chiés.[3]
  • 1580 – Chez Plutarque “in Plutarch's work”, in Montaigne.[3]
  • 1647 – Vaugelas condemns that use.[3]
  • 1681 – “In the country of”, in Bossuet.[3]
  • 1694 – “Among; in the time of”, in the Académie dictionary.[3]
  • 1740 – First use in English.[8]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. At or to the home of: Venez chez moi, rentrer chez soi.[9][7]
  2. At or to the shop or practice of: aller chez le coiffeur.[9][7]
  3. In the country of, among: chez les Anglais.[7][1]
  4. In the person, character or kind of: chez l'homme, chez les ruminants.[7]
  5. In the work of: chez Mallarmé.[7][1]
  6. Chez nous: in our country or region, bien de chez nous, typically French.[9][2]
  7. (regional, Switzerland, Quebec) With a surname: the family of.[2]

Word family

  • chez-soi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
  4. ^ a b 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. 2, 450b
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert