Etymologically
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parmi

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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]

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)