Etymologically
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flamme

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Pronunciation

Forms

flamme f (plural flammes)[1] Flamma (10th century), flame (Old and Middle French); flamme from the 12th century.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French flame, inherited from Latin flamma (“flame, fire”), used literally and figuratively.[3][4][5][1][6] Rey explains the Latin word as an expressive formation from “flag-ma”, related to flagrō (“to burn”) and fulgur (“lightning”), from an Indo-European root meaning “to shine”.[4][7] English flame comes from Old French.[1]

Cognate with Italian fiamma, Catalan flama and Spanish llama.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century) uses it of the visible part of a fire.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181) uses it as a metaphor for a consuming passion, and also from the early 17th century flamme alone means love.[3][4] Être tout feu tout flamme expresses ardent enthusiasm (1580 for the sense “ardour”).[4][2] The plural is a fire, a conflagration (1617), and the stake (1690).[4]

From the wavy shape it named a long pennant (about 1210), still used at sea, and a flame-shaped ornament (1690).[3][4] The compound oriflamme was the banner of Saint-Denis and the French kings.[8]

Timeline

  • second half of the 10th century – Flamma (Saint Léger).[3][5]
  • 1176–1181 – Metaphor for passion (Chrétien).[3]
  • c. 1210 – A long pennant.[3][4]
  • 1580 – “Ardour” (Montaigne).[2][4]
  • early 17th century – “Love”.[3][4]
  • 1690 – An ornament (Furetière).[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A flame[7][1]; (plural) fire: en flammes.[7][1]
  2. (figurative) Ardour, enthusiasm; brilliance.[7][1]
  3. (classical, literary) Love, passion.[3][4]
  4. (nautical) A long narrow pennant, a streamer.[1][3]

Word family

  • enflammer
  • flamber
  • flambeau
  • oriflamme

Usage notes

A second flamme, a veterinary lancet, comes from Old French flieme, from Latin phlebotomus, altered after the first.[5][8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 599b
  7. ^ a b c d e 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