Etymologically
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dedans

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /də.dɑ̃/[1]

Forms

dedans (adverb, preposition); dedans m (noun, invariable)[1] Old French dedenz, dedens, dedans from the 12th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Old French de + denz, the older form of dans.[4][5][6][7][8] The Old French adverb continues inherited from Late Latin deintus (“within, inside”), from dē (“from”) and intus (“within”).[4][5][9]

Compare Picard dedins, Walloon divint and Old Occitan dedins.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has dedenz as an adverb, and the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) as a preposition.[4]

Semantic evolution

Dans was first an adverb, “inside”, but left that use to dedans; as dans spread as a preposition from the 16th century, dedans lost its prepositional use (dedans la chambre), still common in the 17th century but condemned by Vaugelas in 1647.[5][4] The noun le dedens appears in 1530, in Palsgrave, parallel to its opposite dehors.[4][5]

With some verbs it forms popular phrases: ficher dedans “to deceive; to lock up” (1793), later mettre or foutre dedans, se foutre dedans “to get it wrong”, and entrer or rentrer dedans “to bash, lay into” (late 19th century).[5][7] Balzac (1841) has donner dedans “to be taken in”.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Dedenz, adverb, Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Preposition, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1530 – The noun le dedens, Palsgrave.[4]
  • 1647 – Vaugelas condemns the prepositional use.[4]
  • 1793 – Ficher dedans.[5]
  • Late 19th century – Rentrer dedans.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. inside, within: il n'y a rien dedans, là-dedans, in there.[7][1]
  2. En dedans, au-dedans: on the inside; inwardly.[7][4]
  3. (familiar) Mettre (foutre) quelqu'un dedans: to fool someone, (military) to put in the guardhouse, rentrer dedans, to crash into, lay into.[7][5]

Preposition

  1. (archaic) Inside, in; now only after another preposition: de dedans l'armoire.[7][2]

Noun

  1. The inside, interior: le dedans d'une maison.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b 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 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 h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 31b
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF