déjeuner

Pronunciation

• IPA: /de.ʒœ.ne/^[1]
• IPA: /de.ʒø.ne/^[1]
• IPA: /deʒ.ne/^[1]
• IPA: /dɛʒ.ne/^[1]

Forms

déjeuner^[1] Old French desjeüner, desgeüner, at first reflexive.^[2][3][4] Spelt déjeûner by some, after jeûne.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Late Latin disiēiūnō (“to break one's fast”), attested only in the 11th century, later disiūnō,^{[2][5][3][6][7]} from the prefix dis- and Late Latin iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin iēiūnus (“fasting”).^[3][8] Littré and Wiktionary also allow a French formation from dé- and jeûner.^[4][1] The English word breakfast expresses the same idea.^[5][9]

In Old French the unstressed forms of the verb had a stem “disn-”, which gave rise in the 12th century to dîner, with the same meaning;^[5][9] the two are doublets.^[1] Compare Occitan dejunar, Catalan dejunar and Spanish desayunar.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace (about 1155) uses sei desgeüner for taking the morning meal; in Old French it also meant simply “to eat, take food”.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

As mealtimes moved later, déjeuner was kept for the small meal on rising and dîner for the midday meal, which was taken about ten in the 16th century and between eleven and noon in the 17th.^[5][9] In 19th-century Paris the main meal moved to the evening, dîner followed it, and déjeuner came to mean lunch,^[2][5][10] while the morning meal became the petit déjeuner.^[10] In Belgium, Switzerland and Canada déjeuner still means breakfast, and dîner lunch.^[10][1]

The noun déjeuner (12th century) follows the verb;^[3][6] it also names a breakfast cup and saucer (1749).^[11][10]

Timeline

• 11th century – Late Latin disjejunare.^[2][5]
• c. 1155 – Sei desgeüner (Wace).^[2][3]
• 12th century – The noun, and the split of disner.^[3][5]
• c. 1540 – The noun “morning meal”.^[8]
• mid-19th century – “To lunch”.^[8][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To have lunch.^[10][1]
2. (Belgium, Switzerland, Canada; dated in France) To have breakfast.^[10][1]

Noun

1. Lunch, the midday meal: déjeuner d'affaires.^[10][1]
2. (Belgium, Switzerland, Canada; dated in France) Breakfast.^[10][1]
3. A large cup and saucer for breakfast.^[10][11]

Word family

• dînatoire

Related words

• dîner
• jeûner
• jeûne
• English dine

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 95a
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF