Etymologically
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mètre

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French has two words spelled mètre: the unit of length, coined in 1791 from Greek, and the older term of versification, from Latin.[1][2]

mètre1 unit of length

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɛtʁ/[3]
  • IPA (Canada): /maɛ̯tʁ/[3]

Forms

mètre m (plural mètres)[3]

Etymology

The unit is borrowed from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”), adopted by a law of 26 March 1791 during the work on the metric system.[1][4][2][5] Late Latin metrum already meant a measuring instrument and a measured space, and Old French had metre for a measure of capacity (1367).[1][4] Rey links the Greek word to the Indo-European root of mesure.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded on 26 March 1791 as the unit of length on which the metric system is based;[1] the report of Borda, Lagrange, Condorcet and Laplace to the Academy of Sciences used it in 1792.[1]

Semantic evolution

It was defined at first as one ten-millionth of the quarter of a meridian and given a standard in 1799;[6] since 1983 it is defined by the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.[6][7] Mètre carré and mètre cube date from 1803,[1] and by metonymy the word named a graduated measuring rule or tape (1868).[1][4] It also names races by their length (un cent mètres, 1898).[4] The derivatives métrique (système métrique, 1795), métrer and métrage followed.[4][2]

Timeline

  • 1367 – Old French metre for a measure of capacity.[1]
  • 1791 – The unit of length is adopted.[1]
  • 1795 – Système métrique.[4]
  • 1803 – Mètre cube.[1]
  • 1868 – A measuring rule, in Littré.[1]
  • 1983 – Redefined by the speed of light.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The meter, the base unit of length of the metric system (symbol m).[6][7]
  2. A measuring rule or tape one metre or more long.[7][8]
  3. Un cent mètres: a race over that distance.[4]

Word family

  • métrique
  • métrer
  • métreur
  • métrage
  • centimètre
  • kilomètre
  • millimètre

mètre2 verse metre

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɛtʁ/[3]
  • IPA (Canada): /maɛ̯tʁ/[3]

Forms

mètre m (plural mètres)[6]

Etymology

The verse term is borrowed from Latin metrum (“metre, measure of a verse; verse”),[1][4][9] from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”), used especially of verse.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found as metre in a late 12th-century account of the First Crusade.[1] Oresme (14th century) speaks of Euripides' mettres.[10]

Semantic evolution

It was used first of Greek and Latin verse, of the kind of line determined by its feet, and then of French lines defined by the number of syllables and the caesura.[4][6] In Greek prosody it can also mean a group of two feet.[6][1] The adjective métrique (1495, metricque) and the noun la métrique “the study of metre” (1672) belong to it.[4]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Metre in a crusade narrative.[1]
  • c. 1361 – Oresme uses it of Greek and Latin verse.[8]
  • 1495 – The adjective metricque.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (prosody) In Greek and Latin verse, the meter of a line, set by the number and order of its feet; a group of two feet.[6][1]
  2. The structure of a line of verse; a type of line by its number of syllables: l'alexandrin, mètre héroïque.[6][1]
  3. (literary) Verse, lines of poetry.[1]

Word family

  • métricien
  • métromanie

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
  2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  3. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 62b
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 63b
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette