Etymologically
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jaune

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʒon/[1]
  • IPA (France, Southern): /ʒɔn/[1]
  • IPA: [ˈʒɔ.nə][1]
  • IPA (Quebec, formal): [ʒou̯n][1]

Forms

jaune (plural jaunes)[1] Old French jalne (1080), jaune (12th century).[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French jalne, inherited from Latin galbinus (“pale green, yellowish”), from galbus (“yellow, greenish yellow”), a word of unknown origin.[4][5][6][3][7] “Galbinus”, which rendered Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós), replaced the main Latin words for yellow, Latin flāvus (“bright yellow”) and fulvus (“tawny”), in the Latin of Gaul.[5]

Outside northern France it survives only in Romanian galben; Italian giallo and Spanish jalde were borrowed from Old French.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) describes a horse with a white tail and a crignete jalne, a yellow mane.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

By about 1165 it was used of the sallow, parchment-like complexion that shows fatigue or illness.[4][5] Fixed phrases include fièvre jaune (1814), le métal jaune “gold” (Balzac, 1834) and, in the racial classifications of the time, race jaune (1840), with the racist péril jaune.[4][5]

Medieval symbolism made yellow the colour of infamy and of the cuckold (d'Aubigné, 1617, Hugo, 1832).[4][5] Rire jaune “to give a forced laugh” is in Saint-Simon (1740–55), and, from 1899–1901 a jaune was a strikebreaker, from the syndicats jaunes.[4] Jaune d'œuf “yolk” is in Robert Estienne (1538).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Jalne, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • c. 1165 – Of a sallow complexion.[4]
  • 1538 – Jaune d'œuf.[4]
  • 1740–55 – Rire jaune, Saint-Simon.[4]
  • 1814 – Fièvre jaune.[4]
  • 1899 – Jaune “strikebreaker”.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. yellow: une robe jaune, le maillot jaune.[9][1]
  2. Sallow (of the complexion).[4][5]
  3. Fièvre jaune: yellow fever.[4]

Noun

  1. Yellow (the colour).[1][4]
  2. Jaune d'œuf: egg yolk.[1][4]
  3. A strikebreaker, scab.[1][4]
  4. (familiar) pastis.[1]

Adverb

  1. Rire jaune: to give a forced laugh.[4]

Word family

  • jaunâtre
  • jaunet
  • jaunir
  • jaunisse
  • jaunasse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 24a
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert