faux
faux1 false
Pronunciation
Forms
faux (feminine fausse, masculine plural faux, feminine plural fausses)[1] Old French fals (1080), faus (12th century); the spelling faux dates from the 14th century.[2][3]
Etymology
The adjective “false” is inherited from Old French fals, inherited from Latin falsus (“false, falsified, deceitful”), the past participle of fallō (“to deceive”).[4][2][5][6][7] The same Latin verb gave faillir and falloir.[2][8]
Cognate with Italian falso, Old Occitan fals and Catalan fals, from which falso and falso were borrowed.[9][10]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) fals jugement is an unjust judgement, and false lei a false religion.[4][10]
Semantic evolution
By 1176 (Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès) it meant counterfeit, falsified, and also deceitful, le faux, what is not true, is found about 1223.[4][2] It was applied to what is founded on illusion or error (fausse joie, 1580), to a mind that reasons badly (before 1662) and, by the idea of departure from a rule, to an out-of-tune voice (mid-18th century).[2] What only looks like the real thing is faux as well: fausse perle (12th century), faux plafond (about 1360), fausse barbe (before 1549), and in natural history plants and animals that resemble others (faux acacia).[2]
The noun un faux “a forgery” dates from 1611, in law from 1659.[4][2] À faux survives in architecture, porter à faux (1690), whence en porte-à-faux.[2] English has used faux with English words since 1676 (faux-prude), and alone, meaning “fake”, since the 1980s.[11]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Fals jugement, Chanson de Roland.[4]
- 1176 – “Counterfeit”, Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
- c. 1223 – The noun le faux “what is untrue”.[4]
- 14th century – The spelling faux.[2]
- 1580 – Fausse joie, faux mouvement.[2]
- 1611 – Un faux “a forgery”, Cotgrave.[4]
- 1676 – In English, faux-prude.[11]
Meanings
Adjective
- false, untrue: une idée fausse, c'est faux![8][1]
- Wrong, incorrect: un calcul faux, faire fausse route.[8][2]
- Fake, counterfeit, forged: de faux billets, de faux papiers.[1][2]
- Imitation, artificial: de fausses dents, un faux plafond.[8][2]
- Deceitful, insincere: un faux frère, un regard faux.[8][4]
- Unfounded: une fausse alerte, une fausse joie.[2][10]
- (music) Out of tune: une note fausse.[2][12]
Adverb
Noun
- Le faux: what is false: distinguer le vrai du faux.[4][1]
- A forgery, fake: ce tableau est un faux, (law) faux en écriture.[1][2]
Word family
- faussement
- fausseté
- fausset
- fausser
- défausser
- faux-filet
- faux-fuyant
- faux-semblant
- archifaux
faux2 scythe
Pronunciation
Forms
faux f (plural faux)[1] Old French fauz (12th century), Middle French faulx (about 1360, Froissart); faux from 1587, though faulx is still found in the 19th century.[3][6]
Etymology
The scythe is inherited from Old French fauz, inherited from Latin falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) (accusative “falcem”).[6][3][5][10][13] Bloch and Wartburg note that “faux” is a northern word: south of a line from the Loire to the Jura the scythe is named by descendants of Vulgar Latin *daculus, *dacula, while in the South-West the type “faux” survives in the sense “sickle”.[5]
Cognate with Italian falce, Old Occitan fals, Catalan falç, Spanish hoz (“sickle”) and Portuguese fouce; in the Romance languages the meaning wavers between sickle and scythe.[5][9]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found as fauz in Chrétien de Troyes (about 1175), for the long-handled blade used to cut grass and grain.[3][6]
Semantic evolution
As an attribute of Time and Death it is recorded in Rotrou (1638); a pole weapon with a scythe blade was also called faux (1690).[3] By likeness of shape, anatomy uses it for curved membranous folds: faux du cerveau (1690).[3][8]
Timeline
- c. 1175 – Fauz, Chrétien de Troyes.[3]
- c. 1360 – Faulx, Froissart.[3]
- 1587 – The spelling faux, La Noue.[3]
- 1638 – The scythe of Time and Death, Rotrou.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- A scythe: aiguiser sa faux.[8][12]
- (literary) The scythe of Death or of Time.[8][12]
- (anatomy) A curved membranous fold: faux du cerveau.[8][3]
Word family
- fauchon
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 392b
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 404a