Etymologically
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lit

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /li/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [li][1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [lit][1]

Forms

lit m (plural lits)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lit, inherited from Latin lectus (“bed; couch; marriage bed”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Latin word belongs to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”), seen in Ancient Greek λέχος (lékhos, “bed”), German liegen, German legen and English lie, but missing in Indo-Iranian and Armenian, Latin kept no verb from it, using cubō (“to lie”) instead.[3][6][7]

Cognate with Italian letto, Occitan leit, Catalan llit, Spanish lecho and Portuguese leito.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning a piece of furniture for sleeping.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1318 lit named the canopy under which the king sat in the Parlement, whence lit de justice (1377), then the solemn sitting itself (about 1470).[2] By 1486 it also meant marriage, as in enfants du premier lit.[2] About 1200 it was a hunting term, about 1265 (Brunetto Latini) the bed of a river, in 1306 (Joinville) a horizontal layer, and at sea le lit du vent (1573).[2]

Phrases name kinds of bed: lit de camp (15th century), lit de douleur (17th century, after lit de sa douleur, about 1120), lits jumeaux (1755) and lit double (1845); in Quebec a lit simple is a single bed.[3] English litter comes from French litière.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Lit in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1200 – A hunting term, in Garin le Lorrain.[2]
  • c. 1265 – The bed of a river, in Brunetto Latini.[2]
  • 1306 – A layer, in Joinville.[2]
  • 1377 – Lit de justice.[2]
  • 1486 – Marriage.[2]
  • 1755 – Lits jumeaux.[3]
  • 1834 – Literie.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bed: aller au lit, garder le lit, faire son lit.[6]
  2. Marriage: un enfant du premier lit.[2]
  3. The bed of a river: la rivière est sortie de son lit.[2][6]
  4. A layer: un lit de sable.[2][6]
  5. (history) Lit de justice: a solemn sitting of the Parlement in the king's presence.[2]

Word family

  • wagon-lit
  • litée
  • literie
  • aliter
  • déliter
  • litière
  • châlit
  • litage
  • Latin lectus
  • English litter

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 l m n o 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 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, 236a
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette