faner

Forms

faner^[1] Old French fener (about 1200); faner from about 1360 (Froissart), fanner about 1393.^[2][3][4] In the 16th century the intransitive forms fanir and fener are found.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fener, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fenō (“to make hay”),^[2][1][7][8] from fenum (“hay”);^[2][3] Medieval Latin fenō is recorded in 1157.^[2] The GLLF and the Grand Robert describe the Old French verb as derived from fein (“hay”), the older form of foin.^[4][3] The TLFi refers to Bourciez and Pope for differing explanations of the change of vowel in the first syllable.^[2]

Cognate with Occitan fenar.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as fener about 1200 in the Naissance du Chevalier au Cygne, meaning “to turn cut grass to dry it”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Littré explains the sense as “to make hay”, hence “to turn the mown grass”, which dries it, and so “to wither”.^[6] The step from the farming sense to “to take away the freshness of a plant or fabric” was made early in the 13th century (cele qui le noircist et faine, Gautier d'Aupais).^[2][5] The intransitive use of the 16th century matches in sense se faner and the adjective fané, which are more common in this extended value.^[5] Montaigne writes of a body whose beauty was long since faded, la beauté de son corps estant pieça fanée.^[6]

The family includes the noun fane, once “hay” (early 13th century), then a dry leaf (1385) and, in the plural, the stalks and leaves left after a harvest (1690); faneur, from Old French feneor (12th century); faneuse, a haymaking machine (1855); and fanage (1690).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Fener “to turn cut grass” is recorded.^[2]
• Early 13th century – The sense “to take away freshness” appears.^[2][5]
• 1275 – The derivative fenaison is found as fenoisons.^[5]
• c. 1360 – Froissart uses the form faner.^[3][4]
• 1385 – The noun fane is used for a dry leaf.^[5]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records faner in the sense “to wither”.^[4]
• 1855 – Faneuse names a haymaking machine.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ted, to toss and turn mown grass or fodder so that it dries; used absolutely, to make hay.^[9][2][1]
2. To make a plant lose its freshness, to wither: la chaleur a fané les tulipes.^[9][6]
3. (literary) By extension, to fade the brightness of a fabric, a colour or a complexion.^[9][6]
4. Se faner: to wilt, to fade, also of a person losing the bloom of youth.^[6][1]

Word family

• fane
• faneur
• faneuse
• fanage

Related words

• foin
• fenaison
• fenil
• Latin fenum

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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 h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 458a
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert