liesse

Forms

liesse f (plural liesses)^[1] Old French ledece (c. 1050), leece (12th century) and liesce (13th century); leesse is still found in the 16th century.^[2][3][4] The Anglo-Norman forms include leesse, leece and liesse.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ledece, inherited from Latin laetitia (“gladness, joy”).^[2][3][4][6] The form with /i/ is due to the Old French adjective lié (“joyful”), from Latin laetus.^[2][3][7] The Latin noun is derived from the same adjective, which meant fat, rich (of soil) before it meant joyful; according to the DHLF the noun first belonged to country speech and meant fertility, and the origin of the adjective is unknown.^[3][8] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word survived only in French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As ledece it is found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning joy.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

French kept only the sense of overflowing joy, joy shared by many.^[3][2] The form leece, with the /d/ lost, is found in the 12th century, and liesse, remade after lié, from the 13th.^[2][3][4] The word has been felt as archaic since the 17th century, but it lives on in the phrase en liesse (before 1648, Voiture), which is formal or humorous.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Ledece in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2][3]
• first half of the 12th century – Leece in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1207 – Villehardouin writes grant liesce.^[8][9]
• 17th century – The word comes to be felt as archaic.^[3]
• before 1648 – Voiture uses en liesse.^[8][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated, literary) Overflowing, collective joy, jubilation: un jour de liesse.^[2][10][1]
2. (rare) Complete and intense joy.^[2]
3. En liesse: rejoicing publicly and noisily: une foule en liesse, un village en liesse.^[10][8]

Related words

• chère
• Latin laetitia
• Latin laetus

Usage notes

The adjective lié survives only in the old phrase chère lie, in which lie is a Picard contraction of liée.^[2][4][3] The word is also a place name in the pilgrimage of Notre-Dame de Liesse,^[9] and Liesse is a woman's given name.^[1]

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 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 c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 129b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert