détresse

Forms

détresse f (plural détresses)^[1] Old French destrece (1160), then destresse (early 14th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French destrece, inherited from Vulgar Latin *districtia (“narrowness”), derived from Latin districtus, the past participle of distringō (“to draw tight, hold fast”), formed from dis- and stringō (“to press together”).^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg and the TLFi compare the formation of angustia (“narrow pass”) from angustus (“narrow”).^[6][2] Littré explains the ending as in paresse from pigritia.^[7]

The word is found only in Gallo-Romance, as Old Occitan destreissa, apart from a few traces in northern Italy.^[6] Its senses developed in parallel with those of the old adjective détroit.^[6] The English word distress was taken from the Old French word in the late 13th century.^[8][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record, in the Roman d'Eneas (1160), already means a desperate plight or anguish.^[2][3] The GLLF instead dates a concrete sense “narrow pass” to Benoît de Sainte-Maure about 1160.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The moral sense of a desperate situation or anguish has lasted from the first texts, while the other Old French senses died out:^[3] concretely “narrowness”, especially a narrow place such as a defile or a prison,^[3][6] and morally urgent desire, severity, constraint, force and power,^[3] as well as a legal sense of jurisdiction, distraint and dependency.^[3][6] A 13th-century proverb opposes largesse from a generous heart to detresce from a hard one.^[7]

In modern French it names above all a painful feeling of abandonment, loneliness and anguish, with uses in psychology and psychiatry,^[3] a 1905 article speaking of the détresse of psychasthenics.^[10] Concretely it is a hard material situation, total want.^[3][2] It is used especially of a ship, and later an aircraft, in danger, in en détresse and signal de détresse;^[3][7] Rey recommends feux de détresse for the hazard lights of a car in place of the anglicism warnings.^[3] The noun has no derivatives.^[3]

Timeline

• 1160 – Destrece appears in the Roman d'Eneas, meaning a desperate plight.^[2]
• 13th century – Villehardouin writes of la destresce de viande, a dire shortage of food.^[7]
• late 13th century – English borrows the word as distress.^[8]
• early 14th century – The spelling destresse appears in the Passion du Palatinus.^[2]
• 1905 – A psychology journal uses it of psychasthenic patients.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A feeling of distress, abandonment and helplessness in a hard or dangerous situation: un cri de détresse.^[11][12][2]
2. A situation of extreme need or danger, destitution: la détresse des sinistrés.^[11][2][7]
3. (nautical, aviation) En détresse: in danger and needing help, of a ship or aircraft, also signal de détresse.^[7][3]
4. Feux de détresse: the hazard lights of a car.^[3]

Related words

• détroit
• district
• étreindre
• Latin districtus
• English distress

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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. 3, 100a
6. ^ a b c d e 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF, p. vol. 29
11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)