mère

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɛʁ/^[1]
• IPA: [ˈmɛ.ʁə]^[1]
• IPA (Quebec): [maɛ̯ʁ]^[1]

Forms

mère f (plural mères)^[1] Old French madre, medre (about 980) and mere (about 1050); the Académie wrote mere in 1694 and 1718, mére in 1740 and mère from 1762.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French medre, inherited from Latin māter (“mother; mother country; source”) (accusative “mātrem”), from Proto-Italic *mātēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.^[4][2][1][5] Unlike genitrix and mamma, the Latin word could be used of animals; it also meant a main branch or trunk, a cause or source, and a nurse, and, like “pater”, it was added to a goddess's name as a mark of respect.^[2][4]

The Indo-European word, with its religious and social value, is also seen in Sanskrit माता (mātā́), Ancient Greek μήτηρ (mḗtēr), German Mutter and English mother.^[2][6] Cognate with Italian madre, Occitan maire, Catalan mare and Spanish madre.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the late 10th century, as medre “woman who has borne a child” in the Vie de saint Léger and as madre, of the Virgin Mary, in the Passion de Clermont.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Mère de famille (1510) is a calque of Latin mater familias, fille-mère (1848) has given way to mère célibataire (1961), and the fête des Mères dates from about 1935.^[4][2][3] The Church was mère iglise about 1130, and notre mère sainte Église at the end of the 12th century.^[4] About 1200 the word was used of a female animal with young.^[4]

As a title it named a married innkeeper (1580), a professed nun (1612) and the mother superior (1664); ma bonne mère (1721) and ma petite mère (1756) are familiar forms of address, and in 1841 petite mère was the madam of a brothel.^[4][8] Figuratively it means the source of something (l'oisiveté est mère de luxure, 1546, Rabelais), the place of origin (1558, Du Bellay) and, in apposition, the principal one: mère patrie (1774), langue mère (1690), idée mère (1745).^[4] Mère de vinaigre, the film formed in vinegar, is recorded in 1868.^[4]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Medre and madre in the Vie de saint Léger and the Passion de Clermont.^[4]
• c. 1050 – The form mere.^[2][9]
• c. 1200 – Female animal with young.^[4]
• 1510 – Mère de famille.^[4]
• 1612 – Mère as the title of a nun.^[4]
• 1690 – Langue mère.^[4]
• 1774 – Mère patrie.^[4]
• 1848 – Fille-mère.^[4]
• c. 1935 – La fête des Mères.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mother: Elle est mère de trois enfants.^[10][1]
2. A female animal with young.^[4]
3. A title for a nun, la mère supérieure, the mother superior.^[4]
4. (familiar) La mère + name: an old woman, ma petite mère, as a form of address.^[4][8]
5. The source or origin of something: L'oisiveté est la mère de tous les vices, la mère patrie.^[4]
6. In apposition: principal, parent: maison mère, langue mère.^[4][10]
7. Mère de vinaigre: mother of vinegar.^[4]

Word family

• belle-mère
• grand-mère

Related words

• maternel
• père
• Latin māter

Usage notes

A separate adjective mère “pure” (1369), from Latin mera, feminine of merus, survives only in the technical phrase mère goutte, the first juice that runs before pressing; it is placed before the noun after the Latin merum vinum.^[9][10][7] Old French had the more popular form mier, as in or mier “pure gold”.^[7][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 467b
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert