pleuvoir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /plø.vwaʁ/^[1]

Forms

pleuvoir (impersonal)^[1] Old French ploveir (about 1140), pluveir (1165–70), plouvoir and pleuvoir (about 1180).^[2][3] The verb is mostly impersonal: il pleut, il pleuvait, il plut, qu'il pleuve, past participle plu.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French plovoir, inherited from Vulgar Latin plovō (“to rain”) (attested in Petronius in the imperfect), beside classical Latin pluō (“to rain”);^{[4][2][5][6][7][1]} the French verb shows a change of conjugation.^[5][1] The Romans also used the verb with a personal subject, saying “the sky rains”.^[2]

Rey notes that names for rain differ from one Indo-European language to another, and that the Latin verb can be compared only with words meaning “to pour, flow”, such as Lithuanian pilti (“to pour”), Ancient Greek πλύνω (plúnō, “to wash”) and Old High German fliozan (“to flow”).^[2][8] Cognate with Romanian ploua, Italian piovere, Catalan ploure, Spanish llover and Portuguese chover.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1140) has the impersonal verb, of rain falling; the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it for manna falling in abundance like rain.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts it was impersonal; by extension, from the 13th century, it was said of rains of blood, fire and the like.^[2] A personal transitive use, “to make rain fall”, chiefly of God (about 1180), stayed marginal, and Eustache Deschamps has “to shower” (late 14th century).^[2][4] With a plural subject, blows, projectiles and, figuratively, favours and honours pleuvent (late 16th century), as later advice, epigrams and books (1718).^[2]

Phrases include il pleut à verse (Richelet, 1680, à la verse, 1640), il pleut à seaux (Furetière, 1690) and il pleut comme vache qui pisse (1876); Quebec French says il pleut à boire debout.^[3][4][10] Tu vas faire pleuvoir is said to someone singing out of tune.^[11]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – Of manna, Oxford Psalter.^[4]
• c. 1140 – Of rain, Gaimar.^[4]
• c. 1180 – The form pleuvoir.^[2]
• 1225–30 – Of stones falling thick, Guillaume de Lorris.^[4]
• 1549 – repleuvoir.^[5]
• 1680 – Il pleut à verse, Richelet.^[3]
• 1876 – Il pleut comme vache qui pisse.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (impersonal) To rain: il pleut, il pleut à verse, à seaux, it is pouring, qu'il pleuve ou qu'il vente, come rain or shine, (familiar) ça pleut.^[10][1][3]
2. To fall like rain, come thick and fast, of blows, projectiles, favours or criticism.^[2][10]

Word family

• repleuvoir

Related words

• pluie
• pluvieux

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 81a
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF