Etymologically
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grand

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʁɑ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /ɡʁɑ̃.t‿/[1]

Forms

grand (feminine grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandes)[1] Old French grant, one form for both genders; hence the apostrophe of grand'mère, written grand-mère by the Académie since 1932.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French grant, inherited from Latin grandis (“big, large; advanced in age, (of style) lofty”).[3][2][4][5] “Grandis”, which has no known origin, was more common in spoken Latin than magnus, and it ousted “magnus” in most of the Romance languages.[2][6][7] Since the Latin adjective had a single form for both genders, so did Old French “grant”; the feminine “grande” was formed later by analogy.[2][3] The title Grand d'Espagne was taken from Spanish Grande (de España).[3][2]

Cognate with Italian grande, Occitan gran, Catalan gran, Spanish grande and Portuguese grande.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 881 in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie, in an abstract sense: grand honestet “great honour”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The abstract sense came first, followed by “of high rank” (1130–1140); a noble or powerful person became un grand about 1500.[3][2] The concrete sense “taller or larger than average” is found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), together with “large in number or extent”.[3] As in Latin, grand also meant “older”: li grant “the grown-ups” (about 1050) survives in grande personne and in grand-père and grand-mère, which since the 12th century have gradually replaced aïeul.[2][3][6]

Grand became a sort of superlative (un grand sot, 1611) and was attached to names (le grand Corneille, Louis le Grand, late 17th century).[2] In the 20th century les Grands named the great powers (les quatre Grands, 1944).[2] In Swiss French it is used as an adverb meaning “very” (il fait grand beau), and in African French les grands are the notables, the powerful.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 881 – Grand honestet in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie.[3]
  • c. 1050 – Li grant “the grown-ups”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[3]
  • c. 1100 – “Tall, big” in the Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • 1130–1140 – “Of high rank”, in Wace.[3]
  • c. 1500 – Les grands “people of high rank”, in Commynes.[3]
  • Before 1646 – Grands d'Espagne.[3]
  • 1671 – En grand “on a large scale”.[3]
  • 1932 – The Académie writes grand-mère with a hyphen.[2]
  • 1944 – Les quatre Grands, the great powers.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Tall: un homme grand et mince.[9][1]
  2. Big, large in size or extent: une grande ville.[8][1]
  3. Grown-up, older: une grande personne, mon grand frère.[2][9]
  4. Great in number, quantity or intensity: un grand bruit, un grand froid.[4][3]
  5. Great, important, eminent: un grand écrivain, Alexandre le Grand.[1][2]
  6. Noble, generous: une grande âme.[3][2]
  7. As an intensifier: un grand sot.[2][1]

Noun

  1. An older pupil; an adult, as opposed to a child: la cour des grands.[10]
  2. A person of high rank, a powerful person, les Grands, the great powers.[10][11]
  3. Grand d'Espagne: a member of the highest Spanish nobility.[11]
  4. En grand: on a large scale.[11][3]

Adverb

  1. Voir grand: to plan on a large scale, ouvrir grand: to open wide, grand ouvert, wide open.[11]

Word family

  • grand-
  • grand-duc
  • grandeur
  • grandelet
  • grandir
  • agrandir
  • agrandissement
  • grand-père
  • grand-mère

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 219a
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)