laid

Forms

laid (feminine laide, masculine plural laids, feminine plural laides)^[1] Old French masculine lait (laiz in the plural), feminine laide; the masculine was respelled laid after the feminine in the 16th century.^[2][3][4] The Anglo-Norman forms include lai, lait, leid and let.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *laiþ (“unpleasant, offensive, repulsive”).^[6][7][8][4] The Frankish word comes from Proto-Germanic *laiþaz and is related to Old High German leid (“unpleasant, distressing”), German Leid (“pain, sorrow”), and to English loath and loathe.^[6][8][4][1] Littré rejected a derivation from Latin laedō (“to hurt”) on grounds of meaning.^[9]

Old Occitan lait and lag are borrowed from French and in turn gave Italian laido and Catalan lleig;^[7][4] Basque laido (“offence”) is also borrowed from Old French.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it describes people as horrible, odious and repulsive: La premere [eschele] est des Canelius les laiz “the first battalion is of the hideous Canelius”.^[6][9][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was strong: “unpleasant, odious, outrageous”.^[6][8] The aesthetic sense, “unpleasant to look at”, appears in Wace about 1155, but it spread only from the 14th century and in the end drove out the older one.^[6][7][8] The old meaning lives on in dialect derivatives such as Norman laidure “insult” and Maine laidanger “to insult”.^[6][7] The moral sense, “contemptible, shameful”, now seems to come from the aesthetic one and has weakened to a nursery word: c'est laid is said to a child like c'est vilain.^[8]

As a noun Old French used it for an injury or insult, as in faire grant lait (1121–1134), “to do great harm”.^[6][8] The modern noun le laid, ugliness as an aesthetic category (1668, Racine), was long excluded from art until Hugo's preface to Cromwell gave it a positive place.^[6][8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses laiz for repulsive enemies.^[6]
• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon has faire grant lait “to do great harm”.^[6]
• 1155 – Wace uses laie of a woman's looks.^[6]
• 14th century – The aesthetic sense becomes the usual one.^[6][7]
• 16th century – The masculine is spelled laid.^[2][3]
• 1668 – Racine uses le laid for ugliness.^[6][8]
• 1690 – Furetière records laid à faire peur.^[2]
• 1798 – The Académie records laid comme un pou.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. ugly, unpleasant to look at; of a person, plain or unattractive in face or body: une maison très laide.^[4][6][9]
2. Laid à faire peur, laid comme un pou: extremely ugly.^[4][2]
3. Morally ugly, shameful or mean: c'est laid de mentir à ton frère.^[4][8][1]

Noun

1. Le laid: ugliness, what is ugly, especially as an aesthetic category.^[6][8]

Word family

• laidement
• laideur
• laideron
• enlaidir

Related words

• English loath

Usage notes

Jolie laide is a woman who is attractive although not beautiful.^[1] The Old French noun laid “insult” and its many derivatives (laidure, laidece, laideté) gave way to laideur.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette