extrême

Forms

extrême (plural extrêmes)^[1] Earlier estreme (13th century);^[2][3][4] Middle French extreme, without the circumflex, until the 16th century.^[5][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin extrēmus (“outermost, last, worst”), the superlative of exter (“outer”).^{[6][7][2][3][8]} The Latin adjective was also used as a neuter noun, extrēmum.^[6][7] The TLFi dates the borrowing to Nicole Oresme in 1370–1372, for both the adjective and the noun;^[6][7] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF cite an older form estreme from the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Littré compares Old Occitan estrem, Spanish extremo and Italian stremo.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme uses it in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–1372), in necessité extreme “extreme need”, and as a noun for the extremes of a science.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the adjective first meant “at the last or a very high degree”;^[7] as a noun it was used in logic and for a violent course of action, a sense left only in se porter aux extrêmes.^[7] From the middle of the 16th century it meant “farthest from the mean, excessive”, said of things, and later of what involves risk.^[7] In the 16th century it also took over the Latin spatial sense “outermost” (Palissy, 1563, Montaigne, 1580), and the noun un extrême gave the proverb les extrêmes se touchent.^[6][7][4]

À l'extrême “beyond what is normal” dates from 1662, and the sense “immoderate”, said of people, from 1686.^[7][4] In the sense “outermost” the word forms Extrême-Orient, opposed to Proche-Orient and Moyen-Orient, and the political extrême droite and extrême gauche, the members of an assembly seated farthest from the centre.^[7][9] The adverb extrêmement dates from 1549, and extrémiste (1915) and extrémisme (1918) from the First World War.^[7]

Timeline

• 13th century – The older form estreme is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1370–1372 – Nicole Oresme uses extreme as an adjective and as a noun.^[6][7]
• 1549 – The adverb extrêmement is recorded.^[7]
• 1563 – Palissy uses it for “outermost”.^[6][9]
• 1662 – First record of à l'extrême.^[7]
• 1686 – It is applied to people in the sense “immoderate”.^[7][4]
• 1915 – Extrémiste is first recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. At the very end of a space or a period of time, outermost, last: l'extrême limite, Extrême-Orient, l'extrême droite, l'extrême gauche.^[9][6][5]
2. At the highest or last degree, utmost: Il conduisait avec une extrême prudence.^[9][4][5]
3. Far from the mean, excessive, drastic: climats extrêmes, remèdes extrêmes.^[5][7]
4. Of a person: immoderate in opinions or behaviour.^[4][7]

Noun

1. An extreme, either of two opposite limits: les extrêmes se touchent “extremes meet”.^[7][5]
2. À l'extrême: to the utmost, beyond what is normal.^[7]

Word family

• extrêmement
• extrémiste
• extrémisme

Related words

• extrémité
• extérieur
• extremum
• Latin extrēmus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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, 335a
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert