infirme

Forms

infirme (plural infirmes)^[1] Old French enferm, enferme and enfer “weak, sick”, in use until the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French enferm remade after borrowed from Latin īnfirmus (“weak in body or mind”).^[2][4][5] The Old French adjective, recorded from about 1050, was the inherited outcome of the same Latin word.^[4][2] The learned refashioning was needed because the old form had become identical with some forms of the verb enfermer, according to Gilliéron.^[2] In the 16th century Pasquier noted that the French had taken back the Latin ⟨i⟩ in this word and in infirmité.^[3][6]

The Latin word is formed from in- (“not”) and firmus (“firm, strong”), the source of ferme¹; in modern French the two adjectives are no longer felt to be related.^[4][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan enferm, Spanish enfermo and Italian infermo.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The old form is found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis: Tut soie anferm, si m' pais pur sue amor (“though I am sick, feed me for the love of God”).^[6][7] The form infirme is recorded from 1247 but is rare before the 16th century;^[3][8] about 1265 the statutes of the Hôtels-Dieu use it for “sick”.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word kept the Latin sense “lacking strength, physical or moral”: Marot speaks of mon cuer jadis infirme (1539).^[2][4] It was also said of a weak plant (1690).^[4] With Molière (1673) it came to mean subject to infirmities, and it now applies to a person who has lost the use of a limb or organ; it is used as a noun from 1690.^[2][7] In this medical sense it differs from both the Old French word and Latin.^[3] The weak sense survives only as a literary archaism, as in Pascal's l’esprit est prompt et la chair infirme.^[7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – The old form anferm appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[6][2]
• 1247 – The form infirme is first recorded.^[3][8]
• c. 1265 – The statutes of the Hôtels-Dieu use it for “sick”.^[7][4]
• 1539 – Marot uses it for “weak”, of the heart.^[2][4]
• 16th century – Pasquier notes the change from enferme to infirme.^[6][3]
• 1673 – Molière uses it for “subject to infirmities”.^[2][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records it as a noun.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (archaic) Weak, physically or morally.^[2][8]
2. Disabled, having one or more infirmities, often incurable: rester infirme après une chute.^[8][2]

Noun

1. A disabled person, an invalid.^[8][1]

Related words

• infirmité
• infirmier
• infirmerie
• ferme¹
• Latin īnfirmus

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert