onze

Forms

onze (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French onze, inherited from Latin ūndecim (“eleven”), formed from ūnus (“one”) and decem (“ten”).^[2][3][4][5]

Cognate with Italian undici, Occitan onze, Catalan onze, Spanish once and Portuguese onze.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1080) already has Onze millies chevaliers “eleven thousand knights”, as Littré quotes it; the TLFi's first record is in Wace's Brut (about 1155), for the number ten plus one.^[7][5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the late 17th century the numeral was used as an ordinal, as in Louis onze (1688), and as a noun, first for a day of the month (1690) and then for the figure 11 (1694).^[2][4] By likeness to the figure 11, popular speech used it for a pair of legs (1833), a sense now gone.^[2][4] In sport it has named a football team of eleven players since 1898, and in Greek antiquity les Onze were the eleven magistrates of the Athenian police (1864).^[2][4][8]

The noun and the ordinal now take le without elision (le onze, le onzième), on the model of le deux, le trois; in the 16th century people still said l'onzième.^[9][2]

Timeline

• c. 1080 – Onze appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[7][5]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses it in the Brut.^[2]
• 1688 – Richelet records it as an ordinal, in Louis onze.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records it as a noun for a day of the month.^[2][4]
• 1694 – It names the figure 11.^[2][4]
• 1833 – Popular speech uses it for a pair of legs.^[2]
• 1898 – It names a football team.^[2][4]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Eleven, ten plus one: onze joueurs, à onze heures.^[8][2][1]
2. Eleventh, after a name or a number: Louis onze, page onze.^[8][2][7]

Noun

1. The number or figure 11.^[8][2]
2. The eleventh day of a month: le onze mai.^[2][7]
3. (sport) A football team of eleven players: le onze de France.^[2][4]

Word family

• onzième
• onzain

Related words

• un
• dix
• Latin ūndecim

Usage notes

There is normally no elision or liaison before onze: le onze, de onze, que onze.^[2][7] Bouillon d'onze heures is a poisoned drink, and Littré records the phrase il va chercher midi où il n'y a qu'onze heures.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ a b c 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 34b
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France