loisir

Forms

loisir m (plural loisirs)^[1] Old French leisir;^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also laisir, leiser and leysir.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French loisir, originally the infinitive of an impersonal verb meaning “to be permitted”, used as a noun.^[2][4][5] The verb, recorded from the second half of the 10th century and in use until the 14th, is inherited from Latin licet (“it is permitted”).^[2][4][6] The ending ⟨-ir⟩ from Latin ⟨-ēre⟩ is regular here, after the palatalised consonant, as in plaisir and gésir.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan lezer, Catalan lleure and Portuguese lazer.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) leisir is the possibility of doing something, and the phrase a leisir “taking the time needed, without hurry” is found from the first records.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From “possibility to do something” (loisir de with an infinitive, about 1140) the word came to mean the time needed to do it (about 1165).^[2][4] Froissart, in the late 14th century, uses it for free time to do as one pleases;^[2][4] hence homme de loisir (about 1550) and the 17th-century être de loisir “to be free”, also “to have time to waste on trifles”.^[4][9]

The modern sense, time free from work, appears about 1530, but Rey points out that the modern idea of leisure took shape only after the industrial revolution.^[4] The Académie noted the poetic plural in 1740, and today les loisirs are the activities of free time.^[2][8] English leisure, recorded about 1300, comes from Old French leisir.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Leisir “possibility” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1140 – Gaimar uses leisir de with an infinitive.^[2]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for the time needed to do something.^[2][4]
• c. 1300 – English leisure is recorded.^[10]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it for free time.^[2]
• 1530 – The sense “time free from work” appears in Palsgrave.^[9][4]
• 1740 – The Académie notes the plural loisirs in poetry.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The freedom or possibility to do something: avoir le loisir de partir.^[8][2]
2. À loisir, tout à loisir: at one's ease, taking all the time one wants.^[8][11]
3. Time available to do something conveniently: je n'ai pas eu le loisir de lui répondre.^[8]
4. Free time outside one's work, leisure.^[8][4]
5. (in the plural) Leisure activities, hobbies: parc de loisirs.^[8][1]

Word family

• loisible

Related words

• licence
• licite
• Latin licet
• English leisure

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 n 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 309a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette