grégeois

Forms

grégeois (feminine grégeoise, masculine plural grégeois, feminine plural grégeoises)^[1] Old French grezeiz, grezois, grigeois and gregois.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French grezois (“Greek”), also grezeiz (about 1130), altered in the 12th century, and the Old French word is inherited from Vulgar Latin *graeciscus, formed from graecus (“Greek”) with the suffix -iscus.^[2][3][5][6] The Grand Lexique traces this suffix to Germanic.^[7] Wiktionary also allows a French formation from Old French grieu “Greek” with the suffix -ois.^[1] Littré had derived it from Latin graecensis.^[8]

Cognate with Old Occitan grezesc and Romanian grecesc.^[3][5][1] Rey thinks that grisou “firedamp” is probably an altered form of the same word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 1188, grigeois is used as a noun for the Greek language in Partonopeus de Blois.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective meant simply “Greek”, but it survived mainly in feu grégeois “Greek fire”, recorded as feu grezeis about 1160 and as feu gregois about 1190.^[2][3][7] This incendiary mixture, used by the Byzantines above all in sea battles, became known to Western Europeans during the Third Crusade.^[3][5] La Bruyère used feu grégeois figuratively for a flash of wit before 1696.^[7] The plain sense “Greek” returns as a deliberate archaism in Chénier and later writers.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1188 – Grigeois names the Greek language in Partonopeus de Blois.^[2]
• 1190 – Feu gregeois is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1530 – Palsgrave has feu grégeois.^[7]
• before 1696 – La Bruyère uses the phrase figuratively for a flash of wit.^[7]
• before 1794 – Chénier uses the adjective for “Greek”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Greek, Grecian.^[7][1]
2. Feu grégeois: Greek fire, an incendiary mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, pitch and bituminous matter that burned even on water, used by the Byzantines in war.^[2][9]

Related words

• grec
• grisou
• Latin graecus

Usage notes

In the 19th century the word was used only in feu grégeois.^[8] Littré notes that Grégeois was formerly also the name of the people now called Grecs.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 212b
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert