prix

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʁi/^[1]

Forms

prix m (invariable)^[1] Old French pris, prix from the 14th–16th centuries.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pris, inherited from Latin pretium (“value; price; reward”).^[5][2][6][7] The origin of “pretium” is unclear; rather than with Balto-Slavic words such as Russian “protiv” “against”, Rey and the Petit Robert relate it to Latin interpres (“go-between”) (see interprète), through the idea of exchange.^[2][8] Littré, after Curtius, compared Ancient Greek πρίαμαι (príamai, “to buy”).^[9]

Cognate with Italian prezzo, Old Occitan pretz, Catalan preu, Spanish precio, Portuguese preço and Romanian preț.^[8][9] English price, English prize and English praise go back to the Old French word.^[8][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has pris for the fare paid for passage on a boat.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In 1160–1174 (Wace) it was the commercial value of a thing, and about 1140 the worth one recognises in a person, de pris “of value” (about 1135) and chevaliers de pris are frequent in Old French.^[5][9] Many phrases followed: mettre a pris (1377), mettre à prix (1538), à juste prix (1579), prix fixe (1690), mettre la tête de qqn à prix (1671), à prix d'or (1829), prix de revient (1838) and à tout prix (Mme de Staël, 1807).^[5][2]

From Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181) prix was also the reward of the winner of a contest, then a school prize (1690), the competition itself (1867, in racing) and the prize-winner (un Prix de Rome, 1875).^[5][2] Montaigne's au prix de sa vie (1588) and Corneille's prix “punishment” (1643) show the sense of what one pays for something.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Pris “fare”, in Saint Alexis.^[5]
• c. 1140 – A person's worth.^[5]
• 1160–1174 – Commercial value, in Wace.^[5]
• 1176–1181 – A prize, in Chrétien de Troyes.^[5]
• 1538 – Mettre à prix.^[5]
• 1588 – Au prix de sa vie in Montaigne.^[5]
• 1690 – School prizes, prix fixe.^[5]
• 1807 – À tout prix in Mme de Staël.^[5]
• 1838 – Prix de revient in Stendhal.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A price, cost: prix de détail, à bas prix, hors de prix, prix de revient: cost price.^[8][1]
2. Value, worth: attacher du prix à qqch., n'avoir pas de prix.^[11][5]
3. What one must pay or endure: au prix de grands efforts, à tout prix: at all costs.^[11][5]
4. A prize, award: prix Nobel, distribution des prix; a prize-winner.^[1][5]
5. A race, competition: Grand Prix.^[5][2]

Related words

• priser
• précieux
• apprécier
• mépriser
• Latin pretium
• English price
• English prize

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 370b
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)