monnaie

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɔ.nɛ/^[1]

Forms

monnaie f (plural monnaies)^[1] Old French monoie, moneie, monnoie, monnoye (still in the 17th century); monnaie from 1549, usual only from the 18th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French monoie, inherited from Latin monēta (“mint; coined money”).^{[2][3][5][1][6]} Monēta was first a surname of Juno, Juno Moneta, and coins were struck in or beside her temple on the Capitol, so the name passed to the mint and then to the money made there.^[3][5][7][8] The surname is usually explained from moneō (“to warn”), Juno having warned the Romans of an earthquake;^[4][8] the Grand Robert reports that some take this for a popular etymology and the word for Phoenician.^[9] Livius Andronicus used the name “Moneta” to render the Greek Ancient Greek Μνημοσύνη (Mnēmosúnē).^[3]

Cognate with Italian moneta, Spanish moneda, Portuguese moeda and English money.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes (Érec, 1170) uses monoie for money, and in Perceval (1181–1190) for coins struck by a sovereign authority.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy it meant the right to coin money (about 1245) and the mint itself (1671), as in the Hôtel de la Monnaie in Paris.^[2][3] Fausse monnaie “counterfeit money” is from the late 13th century, also figuratively, and payer en même monnaie “to pay back in kind” from 1653.^[2]

Petite monnaie “small coins” is from Oresme (1365) and, from the end of the 14th century, monnaie is the change given for a coin or note: faire la monnaie de.^[2][8] Economics made it the currency of a country.^[8][1]

Timeline

• 1170 – Monoie “money”.^[2][3]
• 1181–1190 – Coin (Perceval).^[2]
• c. 1245 – The right of coinage.^[2][3]
• 1365 – Petite monnoie (Oresme).^[2]
• late 14th century – Change for a coin (Froissart).^[2]
• 1549 – The spelling monnaie.^[3][4]
• 1671 – The mint.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Change, coins: rendre la monnaie.^[8][1]
2. A currency.^[8][1]
3. A coin; coinage.^[8][1]
4. La Monnaie: the mint.^[8][2]

Word family

• monnayer

Related words

• monétaire
• monétiser
• argent
• Latin monēta

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b 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. 6/3, 74a
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter