Etymologically
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prochain

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pʁɔ.ʃɛ̃/[1]

Forms

prochain (feminine prochaine, masculine plural prochains, feminine plural prochaines)[1] Old French prucein (about 1120), proceain (1120–50), remade as prochain (about 1155).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French prucein, inherited from Vulgar Latin *propeānus, from prope (“near, close by; almost”).[5][2][6][1] Bloch and Wartburg justify the reconstruction by Sardinian probianu; Old Occitan probdan was remade after “lonhdan” “distant”.[6][7] Rey notes that “prope” rests on a type “*prokʷ-”, as its superlative “proxime” shows.[2] Old French also had “proisme” “neighbour, fellow man”, from proximus (“nearest”), which “prochain” supplanted in Middle French.[5][6]

Littré derived it from proche, Rey and Bloch and Wartburg on the contrary take “proche” as a back-formation from “prochain”.[8][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) la tribulatïun est pruceine renders tribulatio proxima est: an event whose coming is near.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Eneas (about 1160) it already means “the next”, the first to come in a series, pasques preuchaines “next Easter” is found in 1252.[5] In the 12th century it expressed closeness in kinship (lor proceain parent) and in friendship, uses later absorbed by proche.[5][2] The noun son prochain “one's fellow man” comes from the language of the Church and the Sermon on the Mount: aime ton prouchain com toy mesmes (1343).[5][6][2]

The spatial sense “nearby” (Wace, 1155) has almost gone out of use in favour of proche and voisin.[2][5] In logic and theology it means “immediate”: cause prochaine (about 1360), pouvoir prochain and occasion prochaine (Pascal, 1656–58).[2][4] Familiar à la prochaine! means “see you!”.[1]

Timeline

  • First half of the 12th century – Pruceine, Cambridge Psalter.[5]
  • 1120–50 – Sun proceain “his fellow man”.[5]
  • 1155 – “Nearby”, Wace.[5]
  • c. 1160 – “Next”, Eneas.[5]
  • 1343 – Aime ton prouchain com toy mesmes.[5][2]
  • c. 1360 – Cause prochaine.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. next: la semaine prochaine, le prochain arrêt, la prochaine fois.[9][1]
  2. Coming soon, imminent: un départ prochain.[9][5]
  3. (literary) Nearby, neighbouring: au prochain village.[9][5]
  4. (philosophy) Immediate: cause prochaine.[2][8]

Noun

  1. One's neighbour, fellow man: aimer son prochain.[1][2]
  2. (familiar) À la prochaine!: see you![1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b 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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert