Etymologically
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large

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /laʁʒ/[1]

Forms

large (plural larges)[1] Old French masculine larc (nominative lars), rare, found 1188 to the late 13th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French large, the feminine of the old adjective larc, inherited from Latin largus (“abundant, plentiful; generous”); the feminine form came to serve for both genders.[2][3][4][1][5] Latin “largus” has no clear etymology.[3] It replaced Latin lātus (“wide”) in Romance, probably helped by its rhyme with longus (“long”); in French it ousted the old adjective lé, still used by Marot and now only a noun.[3][4][2]

Cognate with Italian largo, Romanian larg, Old Occitan larc, Catalan llarg and Spanish largo “long”; English large is borrowed from French.[6][7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has larges terres “vast lands” and larges almosnes “generous alms”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “wide” in contrast to long, the main one today, is in the Chanson de Roland (mult ont large le front), while English large kept the older sense “big”.[2][3] The word meant tolerant, not strict, from about 1135 and loose-fitting, of clothes, from 1478–80, large de + a measure is from 1585.[2][3]

As a noun, au large “at liberty” (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176–81) gave way to the sense of the open sea (1395), with prendre le large (1409), figuratively “to make off” (about 1470).[2][3] Adverbial uses include voir large, habiller large (1683) and n'en pas mener large “to feel uneasy” (1866); de long en large is from 1811.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – “Vast” and “generous”, Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – “Wide”, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1176–81 – Au large “at liberty”, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1395 – Le large, the open sea.[2]
  • 1409 – Prendre le large.[2]
  • 1866 – N'en pas mener large, Delvau.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. wide, broad: une large avenue, large de dix mètres, ten metres wide.[8][1]
  2. Loose-fitting: un pantalon large.[2][8]
  3. Considerable, extensive: dans une large mesure, au sens large, in the broad sense.[2][8]
  4. generous; open-minded, tolerant: large d'esprit.[1][2]

Noun

  1. Width: trois mètres de large, en long et en large.[1][2]
  2. Le large: the open sea, au large de, off (a coast); prendre le large, to put out to sea, to clear off.[1][3]

Adverb

  1. Generously, amply: voir large, to allow plenty, n'en pas mener large, to be in a tight spot.[2][3]

Word family

  • largement
  • largesse
  • largeur
  • élargir
  • élargissement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 182b
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert