prière

Forms

prière f (plural prières)^[1] Old French preiere (about 1120) and priere (about 1138); Littré also quotes proiere.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French preiere, inherited from Medieval Latin precāria (“charter of request, petition”), recorded in 658 in Merovingian Latin.^[5][6][7] This is the feminine of the classical adjective precārius (“obtained by entreaty”), used as a noun, short for charta precāria.^[5][8] The adjective is derived from precēs (“prayers, entreaties”), the usual plural of the rarer singular prex, whose place the new noun took; the same adjective gave précaire.^[5][6] The vowel /i/ of the later forms comes from the verb prier.^[5]

The word is found only in Gallo-Romance and in Catalan pregaria;^[8][6] Littré compares Old Occitan preguiera and Italian preghiera.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records, in the Cambridge Psalter (about 1120) and in Geoffrey Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1138), have the senses “the act of praying, the words of a prayer” and “an earnest request”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Both senses have lived side by side since Old French.^[6] In the language of religion prière drove oraison, a word of Church Latin, out of common use;^[5][6] its main sense stays tied to Christianity, but it is also the usual word for the prayers of Islam (tapis de prière, appel à la prière), and in African French la grande prière is the Friday prayer.^[6] In Old French it could also mean a labour service owed to a lord, a sense Littré quotes from the 14th century.^[4]

The sense “request” gave à la prière de “at the request of” (1316) and the polite formula prière de + infinitive (1813), as in prière d'insérer (1935), which became a noun for the publisher's insert sent with a book to the press (1937).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Preiere in the Cambridge Psalter, of the act of praying.^[2][5]
• c. 1138 – Gaimar uses priere for an earnest request.^[5][2]
• 1316 – A la priere de “at the request of”.^[5]
• 14th century – Prieres are labour services owed with ploughs and carts.^[4]
• 1669 – Molière has faire sa prière.^[2]
• 1813 – Prière de + infinitive as a formula of request.^[5]
• 1935 – The Académie records prière d'insérer.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Prayer: the act of turning to God or a deity to worship, thank or ask for something.^[9][5]
2. A fixed form of words used in praying: la prière du soir.^[9][4]
3. An earnest request, entreaty: céder aux prières de sa sœur.^[9][4]
4. Prière de + infinitive: please (in notices): prière de fermer la porte.^[5][9]
5. Prière d'insérer: a publisher's insert describing a new book, sent to critics.^[5]

Related words

• prier
• précaire
• oraison
• Latin prex

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 339a
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert