grief

Forms

grief m (plural griefs)^[1] The adjective: grief (feminine griève, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grièves); Old French gref.^[1][2]

Etymology

The noun is a deverbal noun from Old French grever (“to burden, harm”) or the adjective grief (“hard to bear”) used as a noun; the TLFi, the DHLF and the Grand Robert leave both open,^[2][3][4] while Bloch and Wartburg and Picoche take it from the verb, from its old forms stressed on the stem.^[5][6] The verb is from Latin gravō (“to weigh down”), reshaped in Old French after the adjective.^[5][6]

The adjective, first gref in the Chanson de Roland, comes from Vulgar Latin *grevis, an alteration of Latin gravis (“heavy”) after its opposite levis (“light”).^[2][3][7][8] grave is the learned doublet borrowed from the Latin word.^[1] Cognate with Italian greve, Old Occitan greu and Catalan greu.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first found in Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose (1269–1278), meaning harm or pain suffered.^[2][3] The adjective is older: in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) gref means hard to bear, painful.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense “damage, wrong suffered” is now dated, but from 1549 grief also meant a ground for complaint, the main sense today, mostly in the plural and in phrases such as exposer ses griefs and redresser un grief.^[2][3][10] Faire grief de quelque chose à quelqu'un “to hold something against someone” is recent: the Académie records it only from 1932.^[2] In law griefs d'appel are the points on which an appellant is wronged by a judgment, and in Canada a grief is an employee's formal complaint.^[10]

The adjective was already old-fashioned in the 17th century;^[7] it was revived as an archaism in the 19th century in the sense “grave”, and by Moréas and Claudel in the sense “painful”.^[3][2] The adverb grièvement survives, now only with words for being injured.^[3]

English took grief from the Old French noun in the early 13th century, first meaning “hardship, suffering”.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The adjective gref “painful” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][7]
• 1130–1140 – Wace writes grief.^[2][3]
• early 13th century – English borrows grief.^[11]
• 1269–1278 – Jean de Meun uses the noun for harm or pain.^[2][3]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records the sense “ground for complaint”.^[2][3]
• 1552 – Estienne records the adjective in the sense “grave”.^[7]
• 1932 – The Académie records faire grief.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) A ground for complaint, a grievance: Elle a des griefs contre son voisin.^[10][2][1]
2. Faire grief de quelque chose à quelqu'un: to reproach someone with something.^[10][2]
3. (law) Griefs d'appel: the points on which an appellant claims to be wronged by a judgment.^[10]
4. (Canada) A formal complaint filed by an employee.^[10][1]
5. (dated) Harm or wrong that one suffers.^[2][10]

Adjective

1. (archaic, literary) grievous, grave: une faute griève.^[2][1][7]
2. (archaic, literary) Painful, hard to bear.^[2][9]

Word family

• grièvement

Related words

• grever
• grave
• grivois
• Latin gravis
• English grief

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 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 h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com