naître

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nɛtʁ/^[1]
• IPA: /nɛːtʁ/^[1]

Forms

naître^[1] Old French naistre, nestre (1080); the Académie wrote naistre until 1718 and naître from 1740, naitre is the 1990 reformed spelling.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French naistre, inherited from Vulgar Latin nāscere, for classical nāscī (“to be born; to arise”).^{[2][5][6][7][1][8]} The Latin verb was earlier “gnāscī” (compare archaic “gnātus”), from the Indo-European root “*ǵenh₁-” “to beget, be born”, also seen in gignō (“to beget”) and Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai).^[5][9][10] The past participle nātus gave né, and Old French “nul home né” echoes Latin “nēmō nātus”.^[2]

Cognate with Italian nascere, Catalan néixer, Spanish nacer, Portuguese nascer and Romanian naște.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century) has the participle nez: ciel ne fud nez de medre vius “no one born of a living mother”; the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) uses it for one's origin: fud la pulcela nethe de halt parentét “the maiden was born of high lineage”.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Most of its senses go back to Old French: of animals (about 1160) and plants (1180–1200), of geographical origin (nés de France) and social rank (bien née, late 13th century).^[2][5] Figuratively it meant to appear, come into view (Chrétien de Troyes), of the dawn (about 1180), of a feeling (1176–81), and of a river rising (Brunetto Latini, about 1265).^[2][5] Aveugle-né is in Montaigne (1580), and phrases such as n'être pas né de la dernière pluie are modern.^[2][3] The derivative naissance (early 12th century) was formed after Latin nāscentia.^[5][6]

Timeline

• Second half of the 10th century – Nez “born”, Vie de saint Léger.^[2]
• c. 1050 – “To be descended”, Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• c. 1160 – Of an animal, Eneas.^[2]
• 1176–81 – Of a feeling, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• c. 1265 – Of a river, Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• 1580 – Aveugle nay, Montaigne.^[2]
• 1740 – The spelling naître.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be born: elle est née à Lyon en 1990, un enfant qui vient de naître.^[10][1]
2. To be born (with a quality or condition): naître aveugle, être né pour, to be cut out for.^[10][9]
3. To arise, spring up, come into being: faire naître des soupçons, le jour naît.^[2][11]
4. Of a river, to rise.^[2][3]
5. Ne pas être né d'hier, de la dernière pluie: not to be born yesterday.^[10][3]

Word family

• naissance
• naissant
• renaître
• renaissance
• aîné
• puîné
• nouveau-né
• mort-né
• naisseur
• naissain

Related words

• natal
• natif
• naïf
• nation
• nature
• inné

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 18a
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)