homme

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔm/^[1]
• IPA (Louisiana): [ɔ̃m]^[1]

Forms

homme m (plural hommes)^[1] Old French omne (about 980), ome (about 1050), hume (1080); homme from the late 12th century.^[2][3] The nominative hom, huem gave on.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French home, inherited from Latin hominem (“human being”), the accusative of “homō”.^[6][7][3][5] In imperial Latin “homō” came to mean a rational being, as opposed to a beast, and replaced vir (“man”); in the plural it meant “soldiers”, and in the singular “a living person” as opposed to the dead and the gods.^[6][8] It goes back to an Indo-European word for “earth”, the man being “the earthly one”, opposed to the gods, as in humus (“earth”) and Ancient Greek χθών (khthṓn, “earth”).^[6][8] Wiktionary gives Old Latin hemō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”).^[6][8][1]

Cognate with Romanian om, Italian uomo, Occitan òme, Catalan home, Spanish hombre and Portuguese homem.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion de Clermont (about 980) has hom for a human being as a species (hom carnels “man of flesh”) and for the human male (li om primers “the first man”, Adam).^[9][6]

Semantic evolution

Most of the Latin senses are found in French before the end of the 14th century.^[6] About 1050 hume meant “husband”, a sense always kept in familiar speech, and about 1100 “warrior” and “vassal”.^[9][5] Homme of a man of a given origin or condition is found in 1160–75, and of a man as regards his trade about 1260.^[9] Homme sauvage (about 1700) and homme des bois (1794) first meant the orang-utan.^[6]

Derivatives and compounds include hommage (12th century, a feudal term, figurative from the 17th), bonhomme (12th century), bonhomie (1736) and surhomme (1898), a calque of German Übermensch in Nietzsche's sense.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Hom in the Passion de Clermont.^[9]
• c. 1050 – Hume “husband” in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[9]
• c. 1100 – “Warrior” and “vassal” in the Chanson de Roland.^[9]
• 12th century – Hommage and bonhomme.^[5]
• 1383 – Of a man come to maturity, in Froissart.^[9]
• 1736 – Bonhomie.^[5]
• 1898 – Surhomme.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. man: a human being, l'homme, the human species.^[1][2]
2. A man, an adult male: un homme et une femme.^[1][9]
3. A man with the qualities thought proper to his sex: sois un homme !.^[9][2]
4. A man as regards his trade or condition: un homme d'affaires, un homme de lettres.^[9]
5. A man under someone's orders; a soldier, a worker: le capitaine et ses hommes.^[1][6]
6. (familiar) Husband, partner: son homme.^[5][1]

Word family

• hommage
• hommasse
• bonhomme
• bonhomie
• surhomme

Related words

• hominidé
• humain
• humanité
• on
• masculin
• humble
• Latin homō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 453b
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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