pressé

Forms

pressé (feminine pressée, masculine plural pressés, feminine plural pressées)^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from French presser.^[2][3][4] The verb is from Latin pressō (“to press”), a frequentative of premō (“to press, squeeze”), formed on its supine.^[5][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Larousse dates the sense “squeezed, compressed” to the 14th century, from a record in Tobler and Lommatzsch.^[2] The TLFi's first literary records are Ronsard's air pressé “compressed air” (1552) and Olivier de Magny's use for a person in a hurry (1557).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Besides the literal sense of something squeezed, the participle came to describe people or things packed close together (1629) and a person hard pressed by an enemy or by need (1669, Boileau).^[2] The sense “in a hurry” is recorded from 1557 and “eager, impatient” from 1640 (Corneille).^[5][2] Applied to things, pressé meant urgent from 1606, and in 1869 Littré recorded it for a letter to be delivered as quickly as possible.^[2] The noun use le plus pressé, the most urgent matter, appears in phrases such as parer au plus pressé.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 14th century – The sense “squeezed, compressed” is recorded.^[2]
• 1552 – Ronsard writes air pressé.^[5]
• 1557 – Olivier de Magny uses it for a person in a hurry.^[5]
• 1606 – It is used of an urgent matter.^[2]
• 1629 – Mairet uses it for things packed close together.^[2]
• 1640 – Corneille uses it for “eager, impatient”.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records it.^[5]
• 1869 – Littré records it for an urgent letter.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Squeezed, pressed: citron pressé, fresh lemon juice, and cheeses à pâte pressée.^[5][2][1]
2. In a hurry: Je suis pressée, je reviens demain. Also être pressé de + infinitive, impatient to do something.^[3][1]
3. Urgent, to be done without delay: un dossier pressé.^[3][5][1]
4. (dated or literary) Packed closely together: en rangs pressés.^[2]
5. Pressé de or par: hard pressed by, short of something.^[7][1]

Usage notes

As a noun, le plus pressé is the most urgent thing, in aller au plus pressé and parer au plus pressé.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette