novembre

Forms

novembre m (plural novembres)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French novembre, inherited from Latin november (“of the ninth month”).^[1][2][3][4] The Latin word is formed on novem (“nine”), because the month was the ninth of the old Roman year, which began in March.^[2][3][5][6] Several dictionaries derive it from the oblique case novembris.^[7][5][8]

Cognate with Old Occitan novembre, Spanish noviembre, Portuguese novembro and Italian novembre.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, a treatise on the calendar, as the name of the month.^[2][3][9]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the month: once the year began in January it became the eleventh month, of thirty days.^[3][2][10] It is the month of the feast of All Saints on 1 November and of the Day of the Dead on 2 November.^[2][10] Since 1918 le 11 novembre or le 11-Novembre recalls the armistice of the First World War.^[2][11] In the Revolutionary calendar it corresponded to brumaire and frimaire.^[8]

Timeline

• 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses the word in his Comput.^[2][3]
• 1918 – The armistice of 11 November gives the date le 11 novembre its own meaning.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. November, the eleventh month of the Gregorian year, of thirty days.^[2][8][11]
2. Le 11-Novembre: the anniversary of the armistice of 1918.^[11][10][2]

Related words

• neuf¹
• Latin novem

Usage notes

The holiday is written le 11-Novembre, with a capital and a hyphen, or le 11 Novembre, but an ordinary date takes neither: il est arrivé un 11 novembre.^[11] The plural des novembres is rare.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 209a
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)