jeûne

Forms

jeûne m (plural jeûnes)^[1] Old French jüine, juïne (early 12th century), junie, then jeüne;^[2][3][4][5] jeûne is the spelling from the 14th century.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French jeûner (“to fast”).^[2][4][6][7] The verb is from Ecclesiastical Latin jējūnō (“to fast”), from the adjective jējūnus (“fasting, hungry”).^[6][7] Littré and Wiktionary also consider descent from the noun Latin jējūnium (“fast”), through Old French jeün, though Wiktionary thinks derivation from the verb more likely.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century) jüine is the voluntary abstinence from food practised by Christians as mortification.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Outside religion it meant deprivation of food in general (about 1210, Dolopathos).^[2] The figurative sense of any deprivation is found in Molière's Précieuses ridicules (1659): un jeûne effroyable de divertissements.^[2][3] Furetière records long comme un jour de jeûne in 1690, and the 20th century added jeûne eucharistique.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1112 – Juïne, religious fasting, in Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan.^[3][2]
• c. 1210 – Deprivation of food in general, in Dolopathos.^[2]
• 14th century – The spelling jeûne.^[4][8]
• 1659 – Molière uses it figuratively.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records long comme un jour de jeûne.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fasting, voluntary abstinence from all food, for instance for medical reasons;^[8][2] jeûne de protestation, a hunger strike.^[8][2]
2. (religion) A fast, total or partial abstinence from food for a set period: le jeûne du ramadan, observer, rompre le jeûne.^[8][5]
3. Forced lack of food.^[8][2]
4. (figurative) Any kind of deprivation.^[8][5]

Related words

• jeûner
• déjeuner
• Latin jējūnus

Usage notes

Long comme un jour de jeûne, very long, is recorded from 1690.^[3]

References

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