pré

Forms

pré m (plural prés)^[1] Old French pred, then pré (about 1135), and the feminine prée, from the Latin plural, still used in Berry.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pred, inherited from Latin prātum (“meadow”).^[2][4][5][6] The Latin word, found in all the Romance languages, is of unexplained origin; a comparison with Old Irish ráith (“earthen rampart”) fits neither in form nor in sense, and Littré also rejected the old Latin view that it was a contraction of parātum (“what is ready”).^[4][3] The feminine prée continues the neuter plural prāta.^[3]

Cognate with Romanian prat, Italian prato, Occitan prat, Catalan prat, Spanish prado and Portuguese prado.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) pred is a stretch of grassland: al pred sur l'herbe drue “on the meadow, on the thick grass”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names grassland for feeding livestock, a less technical synonym of prairie, and by extension any grassy stretch in the country.^[4][2] It came to mean the ground where duels were fought (1617), after the Pré-aux-Clercs, the field near Saint-Germain-des-Prés where the students of the university met to amuse themselves or settle quarrels with weapons.^[4][2] In convict slang it named the penal colony, in voyager pour le pré “to be sent to the hulks” (1821).^[2][4]

Pré salé (1732) is a meadow by the sea, whose salty grass flavours the meat of the sheep grazing it.^[8][3] Pré carré, first a ruler's or landowner's rounded-off domain, now means a sphere of influence.^[3][9]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Pred appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1135 – The form pré is found in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• 1160–1174 – Wace names a Pré de la Bataille.^[2]
• 1617 – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses it for a duelling ground.^[2]
• 1732 – Pré salé is recorded.^[8]
• 1821 – Voyager pour le pré “to be sent to the penal colony” appears in convict slang.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A meadow, a piece of grassland for grazing or for hay: faucher le pré.^[9][2][1]
2. Any grassy stretch in the country.^[2][9]
3. Pré carré: one's own domain, a sphere of influence.^[9][3]
4. (dated) The ground where a duel is fought: aller sur le pré.^[8][2]

Word family

• prairie
• préau

Related words

• pré-salé
• Latin prātum

Usage notes

The word appears in many place names, such as Pré-Saint-Gervais and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.^[9][4]

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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 333b
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert