femme

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fam/^[1]
• IPA (Louisiana): [fɑ̃m]^[1]

Forms

femme f (plural femmes)^[1] Old French fame, feme, fenme, femme.^[1][2] The Old French pronunciation [fɛ̃mə] became [fãmə] by the lowering of nasal vowels and then [famə] in Middle French, with loss of nasality before /m/.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French feme, inherited from Latin fēmina (“female; woman, wife”).^[4][5][1][6] “Fēmina” was originally a passive present participle meaning “she who is suckled, who gives suck”, from an Indo-European root meaning “to suck”, also found in fellō (“to suck”) and fēlīx (“happy”), Wiktionary gives the reconstruction Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂ (“nursing”), from *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck”).^[5][7][1]

In Gaul “fēmina” took the senses “woman” and “wife”, displacing Latin mulier (“woman”), which survives in Italian moglie and Spanish mujer and gave Old French moillier (“wife”) (until the 14th century), and uxor (“wife”), which gave the rare Old French oissour (until the early 13th century).^[4][5][8] Elsewhere the word kept the sense “female”: Italian femmina, Spanish hembra and Portuguese fêmea.^[8]

Cognate with Norman fame, Picard fanme, Franco-Provençal fèna and Occitan femna.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Passion de Clermont (late 10th century) meaning “a female human being”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “wife” is found by 1080 in the Chanson de Roland: ne reverrunt lor mere ne lor femme “they will not see their mothers or their wives again”.^[4][5] The word is also applied to a female animal (1829), and in slang to a mistress or sexual partner.^[5]

Many phrases reflect women's place in society: bonne femme (1668), once “a kind woman” or “an old woman”, became in 1926 slang a familiar, rather pejorative word for a woman or wife, femme de chambre and femme de charge (1680), femme de ménage (1835), maîtresse femme (1865), femme de lettres (1872) and femme-objet (about 1960) followed.^[5] Belgian French says femme d'ouvrage for a cleaning woman, and African French femme libre for an unmarried woman.^[5] Anglo-Norman law used feme covert for a married woman and feme sole for a single woman or widow.^[2]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Femme in the Passion de Clermont.^[4]
• 1080 – “Wife”, in the Chanson de Roland.^[5][3]
• 14th century – Last uses of Old French moillier “wife”.^[4]
• 1668 – Bonne femme.^[5]
• 1680 – Femme de chambre.^[5]
• 1835 – Femme de ménage.^[5]
• 1872 – Femme de lettres.^[5]
• c. 1960 – Femme-objet.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A woman, an adult female human being.^[9][1]
2. A wife: sa femme et ses enfants.^[1][5]
3. In phrases naming occupations: femme de ménage (cleaning woman), femme de chambre (chambermaid).^[5][1]
4. Bonne femme: (familiar) a woman, a wife.^[5]

Adjective

1. Être (très) femme: to have the qualities attributed to women.^[10]

Word family

• meuf
• sage-femme
• femmelette

Related words

• femelle
• féminin
• Latin fēmina

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 449a
7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)