neige

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nɛʒ/^[1]

Forms

neige f (plural neiges)^[1] Middle French naige (about 1325), nege, noige.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French neiger (“to snow”),^{[4][5][2][6][1]} which continues Vulgar Latin *niviō (“to snow”) (REW) or, according to Bloch and Wartburg, *nivicō, replacing classical Latin ninguō.^[7][5]

It displaced the inherited Old French noun noif (spelled neif in the Song of Roland), from nix (“snow”), and pushed it out to the edges of the Gallo-Romance area, where it survives in the North-East and East.^[4][5][8] The TLFi gives two reasons: the old noun was no longer felt to be connected with the verb, and it clashed with noiz (“nut”).^[4] It also displaced a northern nive (about 1350).^[4]

The Latin word gave Old Occitan neu, Catalan neu, Spanish nieve, Portuguese neve, Italian neve and Romanian nea.^[4] Littré compares Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (snaiws), German Schnee and English snow, which show that Latin lost an initial ⟨s⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as naige in Watriquet de Couvin (about 1325–29), meaning snow.^[4][2][9]

Semantic evolution

Villon's refrain Mais où sont les neiges d'antan ? (1461) gave the phrase les neiges d'antan.^[4][6] Its whiteness made it a comparison for a white beard (1360–70) and, by metonymy, for white hair (Ronsard, 1555); its fragility gave de neige “of no value” (1585); its way of balling up gave the snowball image of things that grow, faire boule de neige.^[4][10] Ronsard has nége eternelle (1550), and the Académie neiges éternelles (1835).^[4][9]

In cooking, neige de crème is whipped cream in Rabelais (1552), and œufs à la neige are recorded in 1798.^[4] In criminals' slang it has meant cocaine since 1921.^[4][1]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The older word neif in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1325 – Naige, Watriquet de Couvin.^[2][4]
• 1461 – Les neiges d'antan, Villon.^[4]
• 1552 – Neige de crème, Rabelais; neigeux.^[4][5]
• 1798 – Œufs à la neige, Académie.^[4]
• 1921 – “Cocaine”, in criminals' slang.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. snow: frozen water falling in light white flakes, bonhomme de neige, snowman, boule de neige, snowball, neiges éternelles, perpetual snow.^[6][1]
2. Les neiges: snowy mountains, a winter-sports resort.^[6][9]
3. Neige carbonique: dry ice.^[1]
4. (cooking) Beaten egg whites: œufs à la neige.^[4][6]
5. Snow on a television screen.^[1]
6. (slang) cocaine.^[4][1]

Word family

• neiger
• neigeux
• déneiger
• enneiger
• enneigement
• chasse-neige
• perce-neige
• motoneige

Related words

• névé
• nivôse
• Latin nix

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b 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 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
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 157a
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF