Etymologically
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perte

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Pronunciation

Forms

perte f (plural pertes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *perdita, the feminine past participle of Latin perdō (“to lose; to destroy, ruin”) used as a noun.[2][3][4][5] The participle itself, Latin perditus (“lost, ruined”), had gone out of use before the first French texts.[6] The verb is the source of perdre.[3][6]

Cognate with Italian perdita, Catalan perda, Spanish pérdida and Portuguese perda.[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, for the state of being deprived of a dear person's presence and affection.[2][3] In the same text it also meant the death of the soul, damnation.[8]

Semantic evolution

Most of the abstract senses were fixed before the end of the 12th century.[3] In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it meant ruin and the destruction of a person, a sense that now survives mainly in literary use and in phrases such as courir à sa perte;[2][3] by metonymy les pertes came to mean the soldiers killed or wounded in a battle (1807).[3][2] The loss of something one owned is recorded about 1165 and in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181), and the loss of money in the farce Pathelin (1465).[2][3]

Robert Estienne (1549) speaks of losing a lawsuit, and Belleau (1572) of being deprived of a faculty, jusqu'à perte d'haleine.[2] À perte de vue “as far as the eye can see” is recorded by Nicot (1606), and Cotgrave (1611) has it figuratively for talking on endlessly and to no purpose.[2] Madame de Sévigné writes of a perte de sang in 1680.[2] Later technical uses include a place where a river disappears underground (1768), the energy lost in transmission (1821) and perte de vitesse (1892).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – The loss of a dear person, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – “Ruin, destruction”, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1176–1181 – The loss of something owned, in Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1465 – A loss of money, in Pathelin.[2]
  • 1572 – Jusqu'à perte d'haleine, in Belleau.[2]
  • 1606 – À perte de vue, in Nicot.[2]
  • 1680 – Une perte de sang, in Madame de Sévigné.[2]
  • 1807 – Les pertes, the dead and wounded of a battle.[2][3]
  • 1892 – Perte de vitesse.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The loss of a person, through death or separation: la perte de son père.[9][2]
  2. (in the plural) Military casualties, the dead and wounded.[9][3]
  3. The loss of something one owned or enjoyed; damage, harm.[9][1]
  4. A loss of money: vendre à perte, to sell below cost, perte sèche, a dead loss, passer par profits et pertes, to write off.[9]
  5. The loss of a faculty: perte de connaissance, perte de mémoire.[9]
  6. The fact of mislaying something: la perte d'un parapluie.[9]
  7. waste: une perte de temps, en pure perte, to no purpose.[9][2]
  8. The fact of losing a contest: la perte d'une bataille.[2][10]
  9. (literary) ruin, downfall: courir à sa perte.[3][1]
  10. À perte de vue: as far as the eye can see, (figurative) endlessly.[9][2]
  11. (technical) Perte de vitesse, a loss of speed, a stall, être en perte de vitesse, to be declining.[2][1]

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 p q r s t u v w x 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 i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 225b
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette