nourrisson

Forms

nourrisson m (plural nourrissons)^[1] Old French norreçon, nourreçon and nuirceon, feminine;^[2][3][4] nourrisson is recorded in 1387 and was long spelt nourriçon, still in 1690.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French norreçon, inherited from Late Latin nūtrītiōnem (“nourishment”), in the accusative,^[2][5][4][6] a derivative of nūtriō (“to nourish”), the source of nourrir.^[2] The voiceless consonant written ⟨ç⟩, later ⟨ss⟩, in place of the expected voiced /z/, and the change of the inner vowel from ⟨e⟩ to ⟨i⟩, are due to the influence of nourrice and of the verb.^[2][5][4] nutrition is the learned word from the same Latin noun.^[5]

Compare Old Occitan noirisson (“food”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) has the feminine norreçon in the sense “upbringing, education”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word's history runs parallel to that of nourriture.^[2][5] In Old French la norreçon was the act of feeding or rearing, upbringing and manners, and concretely food (late 12th century), a sense still alive in the 16th century; by metonymy it also covered the household and the animals one raised.^[5][4] In 1387 it meant the suckling of a child.^[2]

The modern sense, a child fed at the breast, is recorded in 1538 by Robert Estienne, and the change of meaning brought the change to the masculine.^[2][4] By extension it was said of an animal fed by another (1588), and figuratively of a pupil or disciple (1550, Ronsard), as in nourrisson des Muses “poet” (1559).^[2][7] In medicine it now names a child between about one month and two years old.^[7][3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Norreçon “upbringing” appears in the Roman de Troie.^[2]
• late 12th century – Nuirceon means “food” in the Sermons of Saint Bernard.^[2]
• 1387 – Nourrisson means the suckling of a child.^[2][5]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records it as a masculine noun, “child at the breast”.^[2][8]
• 1550 – Ronsard uses it for a pupil or disciple.^[2]
• 1559 – Ronsard writes des Muses nourrisson.^[2]
• 1588 – Belon uses it of an animal fed by another.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A child fed at the breast, especially by a wet nurse.^[7][2]
2. (medicine) An infant between about one month and two years old.^[7][3]
3. (literary, dated) A pupil or disciple: les nourrissons des Muses, poets.^[7][2]
4. (agriculture) A young animal reared by another, such as a calf.^[2][9]

Related words

• nourrice
• nourrir
• nourriture
• nutrition

References

1. ^ a b 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 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
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 252b
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette