Etymologically
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faon

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɑ̃/[1]

Forms

faon m (plural faons)[1] Old French feün (about 1120), foün (about 1170); faon from 1549; also fan in the 16th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French feün, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fētō (“young of an animal”) (accusative “*fētōnem”),[3][2][4][5] from classical Latin fētus (“bearing, offspring; litter”) (see fœtus).[3][2][6] The spelling with ⟨a⟩ follows paon and taon, whose Latin vowels likewise met and contracted when the consonant between them was lost.[3]

The formation is only Gallo-Romance; compare Old Occitan fedon (“lamb”).[4][1] Littré rejected the idea of a derivation from Latin īnfāns (“child”), since “faon” had two syllables in the old language.[7] English fawn comes from French.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has feün for the young of any animal;[3][2] about 1170 Marie de France's Guigemar has a hind od un foün, with her fawn.[3]

Semantic evolution

Until the classical period faon could be the young of any beast, La Fontaine's lioness has lost her faon.[2][4][6] The special sense, the young of a deer, appears from the first records (about 1170) and is the only modern one, Robert Estienne records it in 1549.[2][8] The verb faonner “to give birth to a fawn” is even older (1121–1134, feüner).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Feün in the Oxford Psalter.[3]
  • 1121–1134 – Feüner.[2]
  • c. 1170 – Foün “fawn” in Marie de France.[3]
  • 1549 – The spelling faon.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fawn: the young of a deer, fallow deer or roe deer.[9][1]
  2. (obsolete) The young of any wild animal.[9][8]

Word family

  • faonner
  • fœtus
  • Latin fētus
  • English fawn

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 486b
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert