gris

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡʁi/^[1]

Forms

gris (feminine grise, masculine plural gris, feminine plural grises)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *grīs (“grey”), restored from Old Saxon grīs (“grey-haired”), Dutch grijs and Old English grǣg, and also seen in German Greis (“old man”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *grīsaz.^[1] Medieval Latin had “griseus” from the 9th century, and Littré rejected Génin's derivation from “grec”.^[7] “Faire grise mine” is borrowed from Old Occitan “faire cara grisa”.^[2]

Compare Old Occitan gris, Spanish gris, Portuguese gris and Italian grigio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaimar (1140) uses gris as a noun for the fur of the squirrel later called petit-gris; the adjective is first used of a grey beard in the Roman de Thèbes (about 1150) and of a garment about 1165.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From hair and beards, with the idea of age, its use soon widened.^[3] The noun named a coarse grey cloth (1270), and vestu de gris is in Charles d'Orléans; grey weather is in Robert Estienne (1549), papier gris in 1609 and vin gris, a pale wine, in 1690.^[2][3] Faire grise mine “to give a cool welcome” dates from 1460–66, and de nuit tous chats sont gris from 1640.^[2] Figuratively it came to mean dull, colourless (17th century), and matière grise (substance grise, 1824) the brain.^[3][2]

Of a person, gris “tipsy” is recorded by Furetière (1690), probably because things look grey and blurred to the slightly drunk; it gave griser (1718) and dégriser.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1140 – Grey fur, Gaimar.^[2]
• c. 1150 – A grey beard, Roman de Thèbes.^[2]
• 1270 – Grey cloth.^[2]
• 1460–66 – Faire grise mine.^[2]
• 1549 – Grey weather.^[2]
• 1640 – De nuit tous chats sont gris.^[2]
• 1690 – “Tipsy”, vin gris.^[2]
• 1824 – Substance grise.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. grey: un costume gris, gris souris, gris perle.^[8][1]
2. Grey-haired: cheveux gris, barbe grise.^[8][9]
3. Of the weather, overcast, dull: un ciel gris, il fait gris.^[8][10]
4. Dull, dreary: une vie grise.^[3]
5. (dated, familiar) Tipsy.^[2][1]
6. In phrases: faire grise mine, éminence grise, matière grise.^[2][1][8]

Noun

1. The colour grey: s'habiller en gris.^[10]
2. A grey wine, rosé: un gris de Toul.^[11][2]

Word family

• grisâtre
• griser
• dégriser
• griserie
• grisaille
• grisette
• grisonner
• petit-gris

Related words

• Frankish *grīs
• English grizzly

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 80b
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF