guerre

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɛʁ/^[1]

Forms

guerre f (plural guerres)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French guerre, borrowed from Frankish *werra (“confusion, disorder; quarrel”), reconstructed from Old High German werra (“scandal; quarrel”) and Middle Dutch werre (“confusion; quarrel; war”).^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary gives the Frankish form as “*werʀu” and the Medieval Latin as werra, which is recorded in the 9th century.^[1][2]

The Germanic word displaced Latin bellum (“war”), which left learned derivatives such as belliqueux; the change reflects the Germanization of the Roman armies and their replacement by the Frankish military order.^[3][4]

Cognate with Italian guerra, Spanish guerra and Portuguese guerra.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), both of armed struggle between peoples and of a particular war.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

About 1150 (Wace) it also meant enmity or a quarrel between individuals.^[2][3] Old French had other words for fighting, such as bataille and estor, and combat only appeared in the 16th century, guerre gradually came to mean a whole set of military operations.^[3] Guerre civile dates from the late 14th century, guerre sainte from 1690, and nom de guerre, the name a soldier took on enlisting (1660), became a figurative “pseudonym” (1671).^[3]

Military matters and organization as a whole are meant in conseil de guerre (Richelet, 1680), and de guerre lasse “for want of strength to resist” is in Saint-Simon (before 1755).^[2] Guerre révolutionnaire is in Victor Hugo (1842).^[3]

Timeline

• 9th century – Medieval Latin werra.^[2]
• c. 1100 – Guerre in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1100 – Guerrier and guerroyer.^[4]
• c. 1150 – A quarrel between individuals, in Wace.^[2]
• Late 14th century – Guerre civile.^[3]
• 1535 – Aguerrir.^[4]
• 1660 – Nom de guerre.^[3]
• 1680 – Conseil de guerre in Richelet.^[2]
• Before 1755 – De guerre lasse in Saint-Simon.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. war, armed struggle between states or groups: déclarer la guerre, en temps de guerre.^[7]
2. A particular war: la Première Guerre mondiale, guerre civile.^[2][3]
3. Military affairs: conseil de guerre, ministère de la Guerre.^[2]
4. A struggle or conflict of any kind: guerre économique, guerre des prix.^[7]
5. Nom de guerre: a pseudonym, de guerre lasse: giving in from weariness.^[3][2]

Word family

• guerrier
• guerroyer
• aguerrir

Related words

• belliqueux
• English war

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 567a
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert