levant

Forms

levant (feminine levante, masculine plural levants, feminine plural levantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is the present participle from French lever (“to raise”), used as an adjective and then as a noun.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The verb is from Latin levō (“to raise, lift”).^[7][8] The noun refers to the side where the sun rises.^[2][1] Compare Italian levante.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle first appears as an adjective in soleill levant “the rising sun” in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), where a knight turns his face towards the rising sun.^[2][9] The noun is first found about 1265 in Brunetto Latini's Trésor, for the side of the horizon where the sun rises.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective the word has been used mainly of the sun and other rising stars, and the Académie in 1694 recorded it only in soleil levant, with the proverb that people pay court to the rising sun rather than the setting one, that is, to new power and favour.^[10][9] Empire du Soleil levant was a former name of Japan.^[5][11]

The noun named the east, and by metonymy an east wind (1343).^[2][5] From 1528 le Levant, with a capital, meant the countries lying to the east of France, especially those on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, Syria and Lebanon.^[2][5][12] In this sense it gave levantin (1575).^[5][7] English took Levant for the eastern Mediterranean lands in the late 15th century.^[13] The pairs levant / ponant and levantin are now giving way to orient / occident.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Soleill levant appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses the noun for the east.^[2][5]
• 1343 – First recorded for an east wind, in Nicolas de Vérone's Pharsale.^[2]
• late 15th century – English borrows it as Levant.^[13]
• 1528 – It names the countries of the East.^[2][5]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records vent de levant.^[11]
• 1575 – The derivative levantin appears.^[5][7]
• 1694 – The Académie records the adjective only in soleil levant.^[10]
• 1874 – It is used for a light tobacco from the Levant.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the sun or a star: rising.^[12][11][2] Au soleil levant: at dawn.^[12][11][2]
2. Empire du Soleil levant: a former name of Japan.^[11][4]
3. Farine levante: flour containing a raising agent.^[12]

Noun

1. The east, the side of the horizon where the sun rises.^[12][11][4]
2. An east wind blowing over Mediterranean France.^[11][2]
3. (dated) Le Levant: the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, especially Syria and Lebanon.^[12][11] Les Échelles du Levant: the trading ports of that coast.^[12][11]
4. (obsolete) A light tobacco from the Levant.^[11]

Word family

• levantin

Related words

• lever
• couchant
• ponant
• Latin levō
• English Levant

Usage notes

In the old law, homme levant et couchant was a man domiciled in a place, as opposed to an alien.^[9]

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 m 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 275b
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com