non-sens

Forms

non-sens m (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English nonsense, recorded in English from 1614.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The English word is a compound of non and sense, the latter itself taken from French sens¹;^[2][5] the DHLF suggests that English may also have taken it from the Old French word.^[6]

Old French already had nonsens “lack of good sense, folly”, a compound of non and sens (about 1210, in the Bestiaire of Guillaume le Clerc).^{[2][5][6][4][7]} That word went out of use, and the modern one was taken from English in the 18th century.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old French nonsens meant “folly, lack of judgement” about 1210;^[2][6] Littré quotes Eustache Deschamps: par non sens et par folye “through senselessness and folly”.^[9] The English term itself is quoted in French in 1672, in a translation of The Spectator, and Voltaire used non-sens before 1778 for a statement without meaning.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The modern word first named a proposition or argument with no meaning, the sense of the English word;^[6][5] Bloch and Wartburg date it from 1787, the year of Féraud's dictionary.^[4][5] An isolated use is found in 1829, and by 1830 Balzac used it of something absurd, against reason.^[6][2]

In grammar and translation it is a passage that makes no sense at all, beside contresens and faux-sens, as in Anatole France's à force de faux-sens, de contresens et de non-sens.^[2][10] Philosophy took it up as well, in Merleau-Ponty's essay Sens et non-sens,^[10] and in biochemistry it is used as an adjective of a type of DNA mutation.^[10][1]

Timeline

• c. 1210 – Old French nonsens “folly” in Guillaume le Clerc's Bestiaire.^[2][5]
• 1614 – The English nonsense is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1672 – The English term is quoted in French.^[2]
• Before 1778 – Voltaire uses non-sens.^[2][3][5]
• 1787 – Féraud records the word.^[4][5]
• 1830 – Balzac uses it for an absurdity.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something that defies common sense or reason, an absurdity.^[10][11][12]
2. The absence of meaning: Sens et non-sens (the title of Merleau-Ponty's essay).^[10]
3. A sentence, statement or argument without meaning, especially in a translation: faire un non-sens.^[10][11][12]
4. Le non-sens: the absurd.^[10][11]
5. (philosophy) In Husserl, the property of an expression that contains a contradiction.^[12]

Adjective

1. (biochemistry) Of a DNA mutation of the nonsense type.^[10][1]

Related words

• sens¹
• contresens
• faux-sens
• English nonsense

Usage notes

The word is invariable: des non-sens.^[1][3]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 464b
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 87b
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)