Etymologically
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prix

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Pronunciation

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]

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)