pluriel

Forms

pluriel m (plural pluriels)^[1] Old French plurel (about 1174), then plurer and plurier.^[2][3] Plurier was in common use from the 16th to the early 19th century.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin plūrālis (“made up of several, plural”).^[2][3][1] The word was first borrowed with an adapted suffix as plurel (about 1174); then, probably under the influence of the name of the other grammatical number, singuler and later singulier, its ending changed to give plurer and plurier.^[2][3][4] Finally the form was remade after the Latin, but the present spelling only won out for good in the 18th century;^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg credit Vaugelas's support for its victory.^[2][4]

The Latin adjective is derived from plūs (“more”).^[3][4][5] Littré compares Old Occitan plural, Spanish plural and Italian plurale.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form, plurel, appears about 1174 in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's life of Thomas Becket, as a grammatical noun: Singuler e plurel aveit tut par igal.^[2][6] The form pluriel itself is attested from 1372, as an adjective, in Denis Foulechat's translation, which speaks of naming the vices en pluriel nombre.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Pluriel was first a term of grammar, both as a noun for the plural number and as an adjective marking plurality; by metonymy the noun also named a word in the plural (1654, Guez de Balzac).^[2][3] In the Middle Ages the forms pluriers and plurieus were also used in the sense of “several”.^[4]

Outside grammar, the adjective came to mean “made up of several elements”: the TLF-Étym finds it in Amiel's journal in 1866 (le désordre pluriel), and Rey dates the literary vogue of the sense “made of many elements not seen at once” to 1966.^[2][3] In politics, gauche plurielle (1997) and majorité plurielle draw on the positive sense of richness and freedom that the word had taken on.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1174 – Plurel appears in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^[2]
• early 13th century – The form with a changed suffix, plurer or plurier, is first found.^[2]
• 1372 – The spelling pluriel appears, as an adjective, in Denis Foulechat.^[2]
• 2nd half of the 14th century – The noun pluriel is recorded in the Latin–French glossary Aalma.^[2]
• 1654 – Guez de Balzac uses pluriel for a word in the plural.^[2]
• 1798 – The Académie still records plurier.^[2]
• 1866 – Amiel uses the adjective for “made up of several elements”.^[2]
• 1997 – The political phrase gauche plurielle appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) The plural, the grammatical number used for more than one: mettre un nom au pluriel.^[7][5]
2. (grammar) A word or form in the plural.^[8][5]
3. Pluriel de majesté: the use of nous instead of je.^[7]

Adjective

1. (grammar) Marking or expressing plurality: une terminaison plurielle.^[6][5]
2. (literary) Made up of several elements, diverse: une société plurielle.^[8][3]

Related words

• plus
• pluralité
• singulier
• Latin plūrālis

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b 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