frêle

Forms

frêle (plural frêles)^[1] Old French fraile, fraisle (11th century), frelle (12th century); Middle French fresle (16th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French fresle, inherited from Old French fraisle, inherited from Latin fragilis (“brittle, fragile”).^[4][2][1][5] The Latin adjective comes from the root of frangō (“to break”).^[6][7] The ⟨s⟩ of the Old and Middle French forms is probably due to grêle, then spelled graisle and gresle.^[4][2][8] Littré explains fraile as the regular outcome of the Latin word, stressed on its first syllable.^[7]

The word is the inherited doublet of fragile, borrowed from the same Latin word.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the mid-11th-century Vie de saint Alexis, where life is called fraisle, “frail, short-lived”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was figurative, of what is easily shaken or soon perishes.^[2] About 1135, in the Couronnement de Louis, it was used of a person lacking strength, vielz est et frelles “he is old and frail”, now the main use.^[4][2][7] From the mid-16th century (Ronsard) it is also said of a thing whose slender look suggests fragility.^[2][6] Bloch and Wartburg consider it today only literary.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Fraisle appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[4][6]
• c. 1135 – Used of a weak person in the Couronnement de Louis.^[4]
• 16th century – The spelling fresle appears.^[2][3]
• Mid-16th century – Used of slender things, in Ronsard.^[6]
• 17th century – The spelling frêle is established.^[3][6]
• 1841 – The adverb frêlement is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Slender and looking fragile: une tige frêle.^[9][10][11]
2. Of a person, frail, delicate, lacking strength.^[9][10]
3. (literary) Weak, faint or short-lived: un frêle espoir, une voix frêle.^[9][10][11]

Related words

• fragile
• Latin fragilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 744b
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)