moindre

Forms

moindre (comparative of petit)^[1] Old French meindre, mendre, menre, manre, moindre about 1360 (Froissart).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is the Old French nominative “meindre”, inherited from Latin minor (“smaller, less”), the comparative of parvus (“small”).^{[2][5][6][4][7]} The accusative “minōrem” gave the oblique case “meneur”, but by the end of the 12th century “meindre”, “mendre” was used in all cases and drove “meneur” out; mineur is a later borrowing of the same Latin word.^[5][6][3] Littré relates “minor” to minuō (“to lessen”) and Ancient Greek μινύθω (minúthō).^[8]

Compare Italian minore, Old Occitan menre, Catalan menor, Spanish menor and Portuguese menor.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century) meindres means smaller in intensity: ne fust meindres Icist perilz “this danger would not have been smaller”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it could mean younger (Philippe de Thaon, 1119), smaller in size (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1170: De toz nains fu Bylis li mendres “Bilis was the smallest of all dwarfs”) and lower in rank (13th century).^[2][5] The proverb des dous maus le mendre eslisum “of two evils let us choose the lesser” is about 1225.^[2][5] From 1215 le moindre served as the relative superlative of petit.^[5][10] The old sense “of small worth” survives in et non des moindres (1280, qui ne sont mie ore des menres).^[5]

Timeline

• early 12th century – Meindres, Voyage de saint Brendan.^[2]
• 1119 – “Younger”, Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1170 – Smaller in size, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1215 – Le moindre, superlative.^[5]
• c. 1225 – Des dous maus le mendre.^[2]
• c. 1360 – The form moindre, Froissart.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lesser, smaller, lower (comparative of petit): un moindre mal, à moindres frais, de moindre qualité.^[10][1]
2. Le moindre: the least, the slightest: le moindre effort, c'est la moindre des choses, pas le moindre doute.^[10][1]
3. (dated) Inferior in rank or merit, et non des moindres, and not the least of them.^[10][5]

Word family

• amoindrir
• amoindrissement
• moindrement

Related words

• mineur
• moins
• petit
• Latin minor

References

1. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 123a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert