Etymologically
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lieu

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French has two words spelled lieu: lieu “place”, inherited from Latin locus, and lieu “pollack”, a fish name borrowed from Old Norse.[1][2][3]

lieu1 place

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ljø/[3]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [ljø][3]

Forms

lieu m (plural lieux)[3] Old French loc (late 10th century), leu (about 1050), liu (1080), lieu from about 1120.[4][2][5]

Etymology

The place is inherited from Old French leu, inherited from Latin locus (“place, spot”), in early Latin “stlocus”.[2][4][6][7][8] The Latin word translated Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos) and took over its technical senses; its own origin is not clear.[4][9] Wiktionary connects it with Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to put, place”).[3] The same Latin family gave louer “to rent”, loyer and the learned local.[9]

Cognate with Italian luogo, Occitan luec, Catalan lloc, Romanian loc and Old Spanish “luego”.[8][10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 10th century in the Passion of Clermont as loc, meaning a determined portion of space.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Lieu saint “temple” is in the Oxford Psalter (about 1120), and les lieux saints of Palestine from 1690.[2][4] In the Chanson de Roland es lius de means “in the place of”, whence en leu de (about 1160) and au lieu de “instead of” (1531).[2][6] Avoir lieu meant “to be welcome” (about 1180), then “to come true” (16th century), and, from 1778 (Buffon) “to take place”, il y a lieu de “there is reason to” is from 1611, tenir lieu de from 1534 and donner lieu à from 1656.[2]

Lieux communs “commonplaces” (1562), a calque of Latin loci communes, became “banalities” by 1666 (Molière).[2][6] In the plural les lieux meant the premises (1690) and the latrines (1640, lieux d'aisances 1802).[2] Haut lieu was a biblical high place in Racine (1691) before naming a memorable site (1931); en haut lieu “in high places” is from 1863.[2][4] Geometry has used lieu géométrique “locus” since 1690–1691.[2]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Loc in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Es lius de “in place of”, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1287 – Lieutenant, “one who holds the place”.[6]
  • 1531 – Au lieu de.[2]
  • 1562 – Lieux communs.[2]
  • 1611 – Il y a lieu de, in Cotgrave.[2]
  • 1690 – Lieu géométrique.[2]
  • 1778 – Avoir lieu “to take place”, in Buffon.[2]
  • 1846 – Non-lieu.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A place, spot, location: lieu de travail, en lieu sûr.[3][8]
  2. Les lieux: the premises: état des lieux.[2][3]
  3. Avoir lieu: to take place, tenir lieu de: to serve as, donner lieu à: to give rise to.[3][2]
  4. Au lieu de: instead of, en premier lieu: firstly.[3][2]
  5. Il y a lieu de: there is reason to.[2]
  6. Lieu commun: a commonplace, a cliché.[3][2]
  7. (geometry) A locus.[3]
  8. Haut lieu: a place famous for something, en haut lieu: in high places.[2][3]

Word family

lieu2 pollack

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ljø/[3]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [ljø][3]

Forms

lieu m (plural lieus)[3] Middle French lief (1431), lieu from 1553; the plural is lieus.[2][9][3]

Etymology

The fish is borrowed from Old Norse lýrr (“pollack”), with the same meaning, first recorded in Brittany.[2][1][11][3] The Grand Robert and Littré compare Breton leouek.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as lief in 1431 in the archives of Brittany, lieu appears in 1553 in the journal of the Sire de Gouberville.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The pollack (lieu jaune) or saithe (lieu noir), sea fish of the genus Pollachius.[9][3]
  • location
  • louer
  • loyer
  • local
  • localité
  • Latin locus

References

  1. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 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 m n o p q r Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 392a
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 494b