parmi

Pronunciation

• IPA: /paʁ.mi/^[1]

Forms

parmi^[1] Old French per mei (late 10th century), par mi (1080), in one word from the 12th century (1160–74).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a compound from French par + mi (“middle”), literally “through the middle”.^{[3][2][4][5][1][6]} mi is from Latin medius (“middle”).^[7] Old French also had “emmi” in the same sense (“Chanson de Roland”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Passion de Clermont (late 10th century) the temple veil is torn per mei “through the middle”; the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has it as a preposition: par mi les rues an venent si granz turbes “such great crowds come through the streets”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it meant “through, across” (par mi le champ chevalchet, Chanson de Roland), and “through the middle of, piercing”: sun grant espiet par mi le cors li mist.^[3] It could govern a singular noun or an abstract noun (permei la mort, late 12th century), uses that survived in classical French (parmi la plaine, La Fontaine) but are now literary and archaic.^[3][2][8] Modern usage takes a plural or a collective singular (14th century), especially a noun for people (before 1589), and expresses belonging to a group (Pascal, 1656–57) or being counted among others (La Fontaine, 1668).^[3][2] The adverb parmi “in the midst” (Montaigne, 1580) is now literary or popular.^[3][2]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Per mei “through the middle”, Passion de Clermont.^[3]
• c. 1050 – As a preposition, Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• 1160–74 – With a plural noun, Wace.^[3]
• 1580 – Adverbial parmy, Montaigne.^[3]
• 1656–57 – Belonging to a group, Pascal.^[3]
• 1668 – Parmi vingt, “out of twenty”, La Fontaine.^[3]

Meanings

Preposition

1. among, amongst: parmi la foule, il est revenu parmi nous.^[8][1]
2. Among, in the number of: c'est une solution parmi d'autres, parmi lesquels.^[9][10]
3. (literary) In the midst of, amid: parmi le thym et la rosée.^[10][1]

Adverb

1. (literary, dated) In the midst, among them.^[3][5]

Related words

• mi
• milieu
• midi
• emmi

Usage notes

Parmi is used with a plural or a collective noun, and not when only two things are involved (entre is used then).^[10][11] Littré records a separate fishermen's noun parmi, a rope stretched between the two bolt-ropes of a seine net.^[5][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 621b
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)