mercredi

Forms

mercredi m (plural mercredis)^[1] Old French mercresdi (1119) and merquedi (13th century).^[2][3] merkredi is recorded in 1339.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French mercresdi, inherited from Vulgar Latin *Mercuris diēs (“day of Mercury”), an alteration of classical Mercuriī diēs after the names of the other days of the week.^[4][5][2][6] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give the altered form as Medieval Latin Mercoris diēs.^[7][8] The classical phrase is formed from the genitive of Mercurius (“Mercury”) and diēs (“day”).^[9][4]

The order with the name of the god first gave the French word and Italian mercoledì;^[2][4][10] the order with the word for day first survives in Catalan dimecres, Occitan and Franco-Provençal dimecre and the Old French of Wallonia and Flanders, demerkes (13th century);^[2][4][10] the name of the god alone gave Spanish miércoles and Romanian miercuri.^[2][4][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears as mercresdi in Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119), naming the day of the week.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning, the day between Tuesday and Thursday.^[2][4] Mercredi des Cendres “Ash Wednesday”, the first day of Lent, is recorded by Robert Estienne in 1549.^[9] By metonymy it has also meant a weekly gathering held on Wednesdays, a use the TLFi illustrates from Proust in 1922.^[11] In France Wednesday later became the school holiday, replacing Thursday.^[8]

In modern colloquial French mercredi! serves as a polite euphemism for the oath merde.^[4][8][1]

Timeline

• 1119 – Mercresdi appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• 13th century – The form merquedi is found in Villehardouin and Beaumanoir.^[3]
• 1339 – The spelling merkredi is recorded.^[2]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records mercredi des Cendres.^[9]
• 17th century – The popular pronunciation mécredi is condemned by Vaugelas.^[4][3]
• 1922 – Proust uses mercredi for a Wednesday gathering.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Wednesday, the day after Tuesday: Nous partons mercredi matin.^[8][2]
2. Mercredi des Cendres: Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.^[8][9]

Interjection

1. (colloquial, euphemistic) Used in place of merde: Mercredi, j'ai oublié mes clés !^[8][1][4]

Related words

• mercure
• mercuriale
• Latin Mercurius
• Latin diēs

Usage notes

The pronunciation mécredi, which Vaugelas condemned, was according to Thomas Corneille the most frequent in the 17th century.^[4][3] Dialect forms include Picard mécredi and Walloon dimiek.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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. ^ 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. 6/2, 18b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF