Etymologically
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notre

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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
  • 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