luire

Forms

luire^[1] Old French luisir beside luire.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French luire, inherited from Latin lūceō (“to shine, to be evident”),^[3][2][5] itself formed from lūx (“light”).^[2] The regular Old French outcome was luisir, and the sources explain its replacement differently.^[3][2][6] The Trésor holds that ⟨luire⟩ (about 1155) was remade on the future forms, as with nuire, plaire and taire;^[3] Rey and the Grand Robert trace it to an altered Latin form with a short ⟨e⟩, ⟨lūcĕre⟩;^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg call ⟨luire⟩ a remade form and derive ⟨luisir⟩ from popular Latin *lūcīre.^[6]

Cognate with Romanian luci, Italian lucere, Occitan lusir, Catalan lluir, Spanish lucir and Portuguese luzir.^[7][8] The Petit Robert traces the Latin word to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“to shine”), also seen in Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) and English light.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it both for giving out light, soleill n'i luist (“no sun shines there”), and for reflecting it, luisent cil elme (“those helmets gleam”).^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb covered both shining with one's own light and reflecting light.^[2][3] From the 12th century it was used figuratively for “to stand out brilliantly”, as in the Moralités sur Job (about 1200), which echoes the Epistle to the Philippians; this use died out after the 17th century except in biblical style.^[3][2] It still means to appear or show itself, above all of eyes in which a feeling shows (Hugo, 1830).^[3][2]

The verb has formed little beyond its participles: luisant (about 1100), with ver luisant “glow-worm” (before 1577), and the noun luisant “sheen” (1676), which in old slang meant “day” (1628) and “sun” (1835).^[3][2] The proverb le soleil luit pour tout le monde is recorded by the Académie in 1798.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has luist, luisent and the participle luisant.^[3]
• c. 1155 – Wace's Brut has the form luire, which replaces luisir.^[3]
• c. 1200 – The Moralités sur Job uses it figuratively.^[3]
• Before 1577 – Belleau writes ver luisant.^[3]
• 1628 – Slang le luisant means “the day”.^[2]
• 1676 – Félibien uses the noun luisant for the quality of what shines.^[3]
• 1798 – The Académie records le soleil luit pour tout le monde.^[9]
• 1830 – Hugo uses it of eyes that show a feeling.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give out light, to shine: une lampe luit.^[7][10][11]
2. To reflect light, to gleam, of polished or wet surfaces.^[7][8][11]
3. Of the eyes, to gleam with a feeling such as anger or desire.^[7][2]
4. (literary) To appear, to show itself, as a glimmer does: un espoir luit.^[7][11]

Word family

• luisant
• reluire
• luisance

Related words

• lueur
• lumière
• lucide
• Latin lūceō

Usage notes

The verb is defective: its past participle lui has no feminine, and the simple past and imperfect subjunctive are hardly used.^[7] The proverb le soleil luit pour tout le monde says that some goods are there for everyone to enjoy.^[8][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 429a
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)