gré

Forms

gré m (plural grés)^[1] Old French gred (late 10th century), gré from the 12th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include gree, grei and gret.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French gred, inherited from Latin grātum (“something pleasing”), the neuter of grātus (“welcome, pleasing, grateful”) used as a noun.^[5][6][7][8] Rey thinks the Latin adjective was probably an old religious term, matching Sanskrit and Lithuanian words meaning “celebrated”.^[7]

Cognate with Occitan grat, Catalan grat, Spanish grado and Portuguese grado.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century), in estre so gret “against his will”, with the sense “consent, will”.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Gré first had the Latin sense “consent”, then “gratitude” (about 1050, savoir bon gré), now archaic except in savoir gré; it also meant “favour” and “friendship” (13th century) and “gift” (1451).^[7][5] As early as the Middle Ages it was used mostly in set phrases: de gré “willingly” (1080), continued by de plein gré (1636), au gré de “according to the will of” (1280), bon gré, mau gré (about 1330), which became bon gré mal gré in the 16th century, and de gré à gré “by mutual agreement” (16th century).^[7][5][6] De gré ou de force (1866) followed an older de force ou de gré (1647).^[7][2]

Timeline

• 950–1000 – Estre so gret appears in the Vie de saint Léger.^[5]
• c. 1050 – Savoir bon gré “to be grateful” in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5]
• 1138 – The derivative agréer is recorded.^[6]
• 1280 – First record of au gré de.^[5]
• c. 1330 – Bon gré, mau gré in Guillaume de Digulleville.^[5]
• 1636 – Monet records de plein gré.^[2]
• 1866 – Littré records de gré ou de force.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) consent, pleasure, what suits someone's taste or will.^[5][1]
2. Au gré de: according to the will or taste of; at the mercy of: au gré du vent.^[9][5]
3. De bon gré, de plein gré: willingly, freely;^[9][10] contre son gré, against one's will;^[9][10] bon gré mal gré, whether one likes it or not.^[9][10]
4. Savoir gré à quelqu'un de quelque chose: to be grateful to someone for something.^[9][7]
5. De gré à gré: by mutual agreement.^[7][2]

Word family

• agréer
• malgré
• agréable
• désagréable
• agrément
• agrémenter
• désagrément
• maugréer

Related words

• grâce
• gratuit
• ingrat
• Latin grātus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 250a
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette