pair

Forms

pair (feminine paire, masculine plural pairs, feminine plural paires)^[1] Old French peer and per; the word was spelled per until the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French per, inherited from Latin pār (“equal”).^{[5][2][3][1][6]} The Latin word, “equal in number, size or value” was also used as a noun for a companion or a man of the same rank, and in Medieval Latin for a vassal of the same lord (856).^[2] Its origin is obscure, since Indo-European has no common term for equality;^[2][7] Rey and the Petit Robert suggest a link with pars (“part”) and pariō (“to bring forth”).^[2][7]

The Latin word also lies behind Italian pari, Spanish par, Basque pare and German Paar.^[7] The English word peer comes from Anglo-French peir, the same word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Around 980 a sermon on Jonah, the Valenciennes fragment, uses peer with a possessive for “one's like, one's fellow”: Ne aiet niuls male voluntatem contra sem peer “let no one bear ill will against his fellow”.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective meaning “like, equal”, the word was replaced by pareil and semblable; the idea survives in phrases built on the noun: sans per (about 1170) led to hors de pair (1718) and hors pair (1896), and aller du pair avec (about 1580) to aller de pair avec (before 1615).^[5][2] The adjective narrowed to “divisible by two”, first in a 13th-century treatise on arithmetic and in Beaumanoir (about 1283), in contrast to impair.^[4][2] In 1845 it was applied to organs that come in twos, and in the 20th century to even functions in mathematics.^[2]

From the 11th century the noun meant a person of the same condition, often paired with compagnon, whence de pair à compagnon “as equals” (1668), now dated.^[2][5] In the Chanson de Roland the twelve peers are Charlemagne's chief vassals, whom legend made his equals; the word came to mean vassals of equal rank under one lord, and under the Ancien Régime (from 1285, per de France) a lord whose lands gave him a seat in the Parlement.^[2][3] In 1704 it was used of English peers, after the English word peer, itself borrowed from French, and the Charter of 1814 gave France a Chambre des pairs.^[2][3] English took the word about 1300, and its sense “nobleman” comes from the twelve peers of the romances.^[8]

In finance pair named the par value of a currency (Bodin, 1578) and then of a security on the stock exchange (1720).^[5][2] This gave être au pair “to be up to date in one's obligations” (1835) and au pair “for board and lodging only” (Balzac, 1840), now common in jeune fille au pair.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Peer “fellow, like” appears in the sermon on Jonah.^[5][2]
• c. 1050 – Per “person of the same condition” is used in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5][2]
• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland names Charlemagne's twelve peers.^[2][9]
• c. 1170 – Marie de France uses sanz per “without equal”.^[5]
• c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses the adjective for even numbers.^[4]
• 1285 – Per de France is recorded.^[2]
• 1578 – Jean Bodin uses it for the par of exchange of a currency.^[5][2]
• before 1615 – Pasquier writes aller de pair avecques.^[5]
• 1704 – It is applied to English peers.^[2][3]
• 1814 – The Charter creates the Chambre des pairs.^[2]
• 1840 – Balzac uses être au pair.^[5][10]
• 1896 – Verlaine writes hors pair.^[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A peer, a person of the same rank, function or standing as another: un chercheur reconnu par ses pairs.^[7][5]
2. (feudal history) A vassal of the same rank as others under one lord: les douze pairs de France.^[7]
3. (history) A member of the French upper chamber under the Charters of 1814 and 1830: pair de France.^[7]
4. In Britain, a member of the House of Lords.^[7][1]
5. (finance) par, the nominal or reference value of a currency or security: émettre au pair.^[7]
6. Au pair: working in exchange for board and lodging, without wages: jeune fille au pair.^[7][2]
7. Hors pair, hors de pair: without equal.^[7]
8. Aller de pair: to go together, be on the same footing.^[7][2]

Adjective

1. (arithmetic) even, divisible by two.^[4][1]
2. Bearing an even number: le côté pair de la rue.^[4][5]
3. (anatomy) Of organs, existing in twos.^[4][2]
4. (mathematics) Of a function, unchanged when the sign of the variable changes.^[5][1]

Word family

• pairie

Related words

• parité
• paire
• pareil
• impair
• pairesse
• Latin pār
• English peer

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give the noun and the adjective as two headwords from the same Latin word.^[11][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 595a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert