Etymologically

grand-père

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʁɑ̃.pɛʁ/[1]

Forms

grand-père m (plural grands-pères)[1]

Etymology

It is from French grand + père, with “grand” in its old sense “aged”, which Latin grandis already had in “grandis natu”.[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg date it from the 12th century, like “grand-mère”; the TLFi's first dated example is from 1529.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The FEW and the Grand Robert date the word to the 12th century, in the sense of the father's or mother's father.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Grand-père and the other kinship compounds in grand- gradually replaced aïeul, which is now literary.[2][3] The familiar sense “old man” is recorded in Littré (1866).[5]

Timeline

  • 12th century – First recorded.[4][3]
  • 1529 – Dated example in the archives of the Nord.[2]
  • 1866 – “Old man”, Littré.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. grandfather: the father of one's father or mother, grand-père paternel, maternel.[6][1]
  2. (familiar) An old man.[6][5]

Usage notes

The plural is grands-pères.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert