Etymologically
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entier

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.tje/[1]

Forms

entier (feminine entière, masculine plural entiers, feminine plural entières)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French entier, inherited from Latin integer (“untouched, intact; sound; upright”) (accusative “integrum”), formed from the negative in- and the root of tangō (“to touch”).[2][3][4][5][1][6] The expected outcome was “*entir”, attested in Old Picard; the ending “-ier” comes by analogy with adjectives such as premier.[2][3][4] The learned intègre is its doublet.[1][3]

Cognate with Italian intero, Spanish entero and Portuguese inteiro.[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Gormont et Isembart (about 1130) jorz entier is a whole day, a thing in its full extent; the Couronnement de Louis (about 1135) has sains et sals et entiers, unharmed, lacking nothing.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Chrétien de Troyes (1172) amors antiere is pure, unalloyed love, and in 1174–76 it meant loyal, faithful, a moral sense from Latin that lasted into the 16th century.[2][4] Cheval entier, an uncastrated horse, dates from 1580.[3] En son entier (1538) and en entier express totality, and, from 1606 a person who admits no compromise is entier.[3][2] In mathematics a nombre entier or un entier is a whole number, à part entière “fully fledged” is modern.[3][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – Jorz entier, Gormont et Isembart.[2]
  • c. 1135 – “Lacking nothing”.[2]
  • 1155 – Entièrement.[3]
  • 1172 – “Pure”, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1260 – Entériner.[4]
  • 1580 – Cheval entier.[3]
  • 1606 – “Uncompromising”, Nicot.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. whole, entire: le monde entier, une heure entière, tout entier.[8][1]
  2. Intact, complete: le gâteau est encore entier, lait entier, whole milk.[7][1]
  3. Total, absolute: une entière confiance, à part entière, fully fledged.[8][3]
  4. Of a person, uncompromising, single-minded.[2][3]
  5. Of a horse, not castrated.[9][7]
  6. (mathematics) Nombre entier: an integer.[1][2]

Noun

  1. En entier, dans son entier: in full, entirely.[10][3]
  2. (mathematics) An integer.[1][10]

Word family

  • entièrement
  • entièreté
  • intègre
  • intégral
  • entériner
  • intact
  • Latin integer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 734a
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)