notre

Pronunciation

• IPA: /nɔtʁ/^[1]
• IPA (informal): /nɔt/^[1]

Forms

notre m or f (plural nos)^[1] Nostro (842), nostre (late 10th century), notre (early 14th century); plural nos (1080). The Académie wrote nostre in 1694 and 1718 and notre from 1740, Picard has no.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French nostre, inherited from Latin noster (“our”), derived from nōs (“we, us”) (see nous) with a suffix that marks the opposition of two notions.^{[3][5][6][1][7]} The plural “nos” probably comes from the accusative “nostros”, through “*nostrs” and “*nosts”, Bloch and Wartburg see “nos” and “vos” as forms that developed in unstressed position.^[5][8]

Cognate with Romanian nostru, Italian nostro, Occitan nostre, Catalan nostre, Spanish nuestro and Portuguese nosso.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Strasbourg Oaths (842): pro christian poblo et nostro commun salvament “for the Christian people and our common salvation”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The uses of notre and nos were fixed before the end of the 12th century.^[5] Already in Latin noster could express a closeness of interest (hic noster “the man we are talking about”), and French uses notre with the same sympathy (comment va notre malade ?).^[5][10] The pronoun les nôtres “those of our side” dates from 1080, while le nôtre “our property” (1120–1150) is now archaic.^[5] Notre-Dame, the Virgin Mary, is found in 1130–1140, and, from 1732 also names a church dedicated to her.^[5]

Timeline

• 842 – Nostro in the Strasbourg Oaths.^[3]
• Late 10th century – Nostre in the Passion de Clermont.^[3][2]
• 1080 – Plural nos and les nostres, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][5]
• 1130–1140 – Notre-Dame.^[5]
• Early 14th century – The spelling notre.^[2]
• 1740 – The Académie adopts notre.^[3]

Meanings

Determiner

1. Our: notre maison; plural nos: nos enfants.^[10][1]
2. Of people in general: à notre époque, à l'heure de notre mort.^[10]
3. Expressing sympathy or familiarity: Comment va notre malade ?^[10][5]
4. Expressing respect: Notre Seigneur, Notre-Dame.^[2][5]
5. With the royal or authorial nous: notre ouvrage.^[5]

Word family

• Notre-Dame

Related words

• nous
• nôtre
• patenôtre
• Latin noster

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f 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
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 194a
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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