Etymologically
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lieue

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Pronunciation

Forms

lieue f (plural lieues)[1] Old French liue, liwe, luie.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French liue, inherited from Late Latin leuca, also leuga,[2][4][5][6][7] which Latin writers give as a Gaulish word, the Gaulish mile:[2][4][5][8] from Gaulish.[1] Wiktionary relates it to Proto-Celtic *lougā and Breton lev.[1]

Cognate with Italian lega, Occitan lega and Spanish legua.[5][3] The English word league comes from Old French.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) measures distances in liues: the horn is heard thirty leagues away.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The league, roughly four kilometres but varying by region and use, stayed in use until the 20th century, giving way to the kilometre imposed by the Revolution.[2][4] It survives in the lieue marine (1704), in Jules Verne's Vingt mille lieues sous les mers and in the bottes de sept lieues of Perrault's Petit Poucet.[4][8]

Figuratively it means a great distance (Mme de Sévigné, 1671), as in être à cent lieues de “to be miles from (thinking)” (1866),[2][4] and by exaggeration a short distance that seems long (Beaumarchais, 1775).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Liue (Roland).[2][6]
  • 1671 – “A great distance” (Sévigné).[2][4]
  • 1704 – Lieue marine.[2][4]
  • 1775 – A distance that seems long (Beaumarchais).[2]
  • 1866 – Être à cent lieues de.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A league, an old measure of distance of about four kilometres.[8][1]
  2. Lieue marine: a sea league of three nautical miles.[8]
  3. Être à cent lieues de: to be far from (thinking, imagining).[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 262a
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert