pareil

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pa.ʁɛj/^[1]

Forms

pareil (feminine pareille, masculine plural pareils, feminine plural pareilles)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin pariculus (“alike”), found once, in the “Remissoria” of the Salic law, an extended form of Latin pār (“equal”), the source of pair, just as “*soliculus” (whence “soleil”) was formed from “sōl”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Cognate with Italian parecchio, Occitan parelh, Spanish parejo and Portuguese parelho.^[4][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Jeu d'Adam (mid-12th century), both as an adjective, “like someone”, and as a noun, “a person like another”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

With an explicit comparison it was first followed by de (Froissart, 1399–1400), later by que (about 1500) in speech and by à in formal use, as in Malherbe's à nulle autre pareille (1599).^[2][3] Chrétien de Troyes (1181–1190) gives it a demonstrative sense, “of this kind”, as in en pareil cas (Montaigne, about 1590); it can be laudatory (Molière, 1666) or reproachful, as in à pareille heure (Hugo, 1838).^[2][3]

As a noun it gave n'avoir son paroil (1188), sans pareil (1204), rendre la pareille “to pay back in kind” (Amyot, about 1559) and the familiar du pareil au même (1866).^[2] The adverbial use, s'habiller pareil, criticized by grammarians, goes back to the end of the 15th century; in Quebec pareil also means “anyway, just the same”.^[3][2]

Timeline

• mid-12th century – Adjective and noun in the Jeu d'Adam.^[2]
• 1181–1190 – “Of this kind”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1204 – Sans pareil.^[2]
• late 15th century – The adverb.^[3]
• c. 1559 – Rendre la pareille in Amyot.^[2]
• 1599 – À nulle autre pareille in Malherbe.^[2]
• 1866 – Du pareil au même.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. The same, alike, similar: ils ne sont pas pareils, ce n'est pas pareil.^[8][9]
2. Such, like that: en pareil cas, un pareil talent, à une heure pareille.^[2][1]
3. À nul autre pareil: unequalled.^[9][3]

Noun

1. An equal: il n'a pas son pareil, sans pareil.^[2][8]
2. Rendre la pareille: to pay back in kind.^[2]
3. (familiar) C'est du pareil au même: it comes to the same thing.^[10]

Adverb

1. (familiar) The same way: s'habiller pareil.^[10]
2. (Quebec, informal) Anyway, just the same.^[1][3]

Word family

• pareillement
• appareiller
• dépareiller
• nonpareil

Related words

• même
• semblable
• tel
• pair
• Latin pār

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 648b
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)