Etymologically
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dommage

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɔ.maʒ/[1]

Forms

dommage m (plural dommages)[1] Old French damage (1080) and domage (about 1160), also daumage, demage.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Old French dam + -age, first damage,[5][2][6][7][8] altered to domage probably under the influence of Old French dongier (see danger).[5][2][6][7] dam continues Latin damnum (“loss, harm”); having more body, the derivative replaced it, and the simple noun survives only in phrases.[7] Littré and Wiktionary also consider a Latin type Vulgar Latin *damnāticum, which explains Old Occitan damnatge and Italian dannaggio.[4][1] The first form was borrowed into English damage.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has damage for harm or loss: Fust i li reis, n'i eüssions damage “if the king were here, we would suffer no loss”.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) already has the phrase of regret: Ce est domage que vos estes por mei ocis “it is a pity that you were killed for me”, c'est dommage que has remained very common.[5][2] Villehardouin (about 1207) has the sense of a misfortune.[3] Wholly cut off from dam, the word is used both in law and in everyday language, dommages et intérêts is recorded by Furetière (1690).[2][5]

Its derivatives include endommager (1165, endamagier), dédommager (1262) and dommageable (1349, earlier damageable, 1309).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Damage, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1160 – Domage, ce est domage que, Eneas.[5][2]
  • 1165 – endommager.[2]
  • 1262 – dédommager.[2]
  • 1690 – Dommages et intérêts, Furetière.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Harm, injury, loss suffered by someone: dommage corporel, moral, réparer un dommage.[9][3]
  2. Dommages-intérêts, dommages et intérêts: damages awarded by a court.[9][5]
  3. damage to things: dommages de guerre.[3][1]
  4. C'est dommage, quel dommage: it's a pity, what a shame, c'est dommage que with the subjunctive.[2][1]

Interjection

  1. Dommage !: too bad! what a pity![1]

Word family

  • dommageable
  • endommager
  • dédommager
  • dédommagement
  • dommage collatéral

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 11a
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert