pain
Pronunciation
Forms
pain m (plural pains)[1] Old French pan (end of the 10th century), pain (about 1050, Vie de saint Alexis).[2][3][4]
Etymology
It is inherited from Latin pānis (“bread; lump, loaf, (Church Latin) food”), from its accusative “pānem”.[5][3][6][4][7][1] Rey notes that the diminutive pāstillus (see pastille) suggests an older “*pasn-”, recalling the base of Old Armenian հաց (hacʿ, “bread”), and that a link with pāscō (“to feed”) (see paître) is possible.[3] Littré related it to a Sanskrit root “pā” “to feed”.[8]
Compare Old Occitan pan, Portuguese pão and Italian pane.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
At the end of the 10th century the Passion of Clermont has pan in the context of the Last Supper; in everyday use un pain, a loaf, is in the Voyage de saint Brendan (1120).[5][3]
Semantic evolution
The pain cotidian of the Lord's Prayer and pain de lermes are in the Oxford Psalter (mid-12th century), pain beneoit, the host, about 1200, pain à chanter in 1328 and pain d'espice in the 14th century.[5] Kinds of bread were named over the centuries: pain noir (about 1174), pain de munition (1562), pain de ménage (1603), pain viennois (1875); Quebec says pain brun for pain de son and Belgium pain intégral for pain complet.[2][3] By analogy it names a block of something, like pain de sucre.[1][2]
Phrases followed: être au pain et au sel de “to be fed by” (1269), manger son pain blanc le premier (1515), gagner son pain (Montaigne, 1588), cela ne mange pas de pain (Furetière, 1690).[5] Avoir du pain sur la planche meant to be able to live without working (1852), and among the soldiers of 1914–18 il y a du pain sur la planche came to mean there is much to do.[5] In slang a pain is a punch.[1]
Timeline
- late 10th century – Pan, Passion.[5]
- 1120 – Un pain, a loaf.[5]
- c. 1200 – Pain beneoit, the host.[5]
- 14th century – Pain d'espice.[5]
- 1515 – Manger son pain blanc le premier.[5]
- 1588 – Gagner son pain, Montaigne.[5]
- 1690 – Cela ne mange pas de pain.[5]
- 1914–18 – Du pain sur la planche, much to do.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- bread: du pain frais, pain de campagne, pain complet, pain d'épice, gingerbread.[1][2]
- A loaf: un pain, petit pain, a roll.[1][5]
- Food, livelihood: gagner son pain, le pain quotidien.[1][5]
- A block: un pain de savon, pain de sucre.[1][2]
- (religion) Pain bénit: blessed bread; the host.[5][1]
- (slang) A punch, (music slang) a wrong note.[1]
- Avoir du pain sur la planche: to have a lot to do, ça ne mange pas de pain, it costs nothing.[5][1]
Word family
- paner
- panure
- panetier
- panetière
- paneterie
- gagne-pain
- grille-pain
Related words
- panier
- panifier
- apanage
- pastille
- Latin pānis
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 543b
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette