de

Pronunciation

• IPA: /də/^[1]
• IPA (Paris): /dø/^[1]

Forms

de^[1] Elided to d’ before a vowel since the first texts (842); contracted with the article in du (from de le, del, deu) and des (from de les, dels).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French de, inherited from Latin dē (“down from, away from; about”).^[3][4][5][1] In Latin it marked origin, distance and separation, with an added idea of movement downwards, and also the part taken from a whole.^[2] In Late Latin the phrase with “de” increasingly took the place of the genitive, as in “nebula de pulvere” “a cloud of dust” in Sidonius Apollinaris, and Plautus already has “dimidium de praeda” “half of the booty”.^[6][2][5] In spoken Latin it also replaced ab and ex, having the advantage of a fuller form beginning with a consonant.^[2] Rey notes that the word is found elsewhere only in Celtic (Irish di); Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Italic *dē, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₁.^[2][1]

Cognate with Italian di, Spanish de and Old Occitan de.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have d'ist di “from this day on” and de suo part “on his part”: the preposition already marks a starting point in time and an origin.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By the 10th century de introduced the complement of a noun (in figure de colomb “in the form of a dove”, 881), the cause, the agent and the means, and the matter something is made of.^[3][7] Its partitive use, the source of the partitive article (du pain, de la viande), is found from the second half of the 10th century.^[3][2] The use of the word was settled before the end of the 12th century.^[2]

From its sense of cause came its use before a subject placed after the verb and before an infinitive subject (il me déplaît de…), very common since the 16th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 842 – De in the Strasbourg Oaths, of time and origin.^[3]
• 881 – It introduces the complement of a noun in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.^[3]
• 2nd half of 10th century – First partitive use in the Vie de saint Léger.^[3]
• c. 1050 – Of the agent and the means in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• 13th century – The partitive article du, de la, des is established.^[5]

Meanings

Preposition

1. from: marks the place of origin or departure: venir de Paris.^[8][1]
2. Of: marks possession, belonging or relation: le livre de Paul.^[1][8]
3. From: marks the starting point in time or of a range: de lundi à vendredi.^[1][8]
4. Of, from: marks the cause: mourir de faim.^[1][7]
5. With, by: marks the means or manner: frapper de l'épée.^[3][7]
6. Of: marks the matter or content: une table de bois, un verre d'eau.^[1][7]
7. By (an amount): avancer d'un pas.^[1]
8. Before an infinitive, after verbs, nouns, adjectives and impersonal phrases: il est facile de….^[1][7]

Article

1. (partitive) Some, any: du pain, de l'eau; plural des.^[5][8]

Related words

• Latin dē

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 21a
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b 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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert