géant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʒe.ɑ̃/^[1]

Forms

géant m (plural géants, feminine géante)^[1] Old French jaiant (1080), gaiant (about 1120), geant (about 1170); gaiant is still usual in Picard.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French jaiant, inherited from Vulgar Latin *gagantem, the accusative of “*gagas”, an altered form of Latin Gigās (“Giant”) (plural “Gigantēs”),^{[5][2][4][3][1][6]} from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas).^[5][2][1] The “a” of the first syllable is due to assimilation.^[5][1] In Greek myth the Giants were monstrous sons of Earth and Sky who tried to storm Olympus and were struck down by Zeus.^[5][2] The Latin word was used as a common noun only late; a popular form is rare outside Gallo-Romance, compare Old Occitan jaian.^[4][2]

Littré mentions a link of the Greek word with “gê” “earth”.^[7] The learned gigantesque keeps the Latin stem.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) names the jaianz de Malprose among the pagan army: men of abnormal size.^[5][2][7]

Semantic evolution

In legend (about 1170) a géant is a fabulous being of huge size, sometimes held to be the ancestor of mankind; in the Bible, the giants born of angels and women.^[2][7] The adjective appears about 1240, and also from the end of the 17th century (1699; adjective 1791) the word was applied to things.^[2][8] Figuratively, from Voltaire, a géant is a person of outstanding stature, as in les géants de la route (1900), the professional cyclists.^[2][9]

In astronomy a géante is a large, low-density star (probably after English giant, 1912), and about 1985 c'est géant ! became a fashionable term of praise, like super.^[2] À pas de géant “by leaps and bounds” is from 1671.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Jaianz (Roland).^[5][2]
• c. 1120 – Gaiant (Oxford Psalter).^[3][8]
• c. 1170 – Geant, a fabulous being.^[2][3]
• c. 1240 – An adjective.^[2]
• 1671 – À pas de géant.^[8]
• 1699 – Of things.^[2]
• 1900 – Les géants de la route.^[2]
• c. 1985 – C'est géant !^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A giant, a fabulous being of enormous size; a person of abnormal height.^[10][9]
2. (figurative) A person of outstanding genius or importance: les géants de la littérature.^[9][2]
3. A very large company or thing: un géant de l'automobile.^[9][10]
4. À pas de géant: by leaps and bounds.^[8][1]

Adjective

1. Giant, huge, enormous: un écran géant.^[1][9]
2. (familiar) Great, fantastic: c'est géant !^[2]

Related words

• gigantesque
• English giant

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 134b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert