proie

Forms

proie f (plural proies)^[1] Old French preie, praie and proie;^[2][3][4] Middle French also proye.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French preie, inherited from Latin praeda (“booty, spoils, catch, prey”).^[2][5][6] Wiktionary notes that the regular outcome of the Latin word would have been *priée, and supposes a Late Latin variant proeda or *prēda;^[1] Meyer-Lübke explains the vowel of French, Occitan and Spanish by the influence of prēnsa.^[7] Rey derives the Latin word from *praiheda, from the old form of the prefix prae- and the root meaning “to take” seen in prehendō.^[6]

Cognate with Italian preda, Romanian pradă, Occitan preza and Old Spanish prea.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as preie in Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119), meaning a living creature that an animal seizes to eat.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word soon took back the Latin military sense of booty, spoils (about 1150), still used in classical French and later lost;^[6][2] Bloch and Wartburg note that until the 17th century it often meant a herd of cattle or sheep, a sense kept in the dialects.^[8]

By analogy it was said of a person seized or coveted (early 13th century) and of anything seized (about 1380).^[2][6] Oiseau de proie is recorded from 1275, and en proie from 1587, first with de and later with à, meaning “in the grip of”.^[2][6] In être la proie des flammes it means what is destroyed.^[6]

Timeline

• 1119 – Preie appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• c. 1150 – The Roman de Thèbes uses it for war booty.^[2]
• early 13th century – Audefroi le Bastard uses it of a person seized.^[2][3]
• 1275 – Oiseaus de praie in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose.^[2]
• c. 1380 – It means anything seized.^[2]
• 1587 – La Noue writes en proye du vice.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. prey, a living creature that a predator catches to eat: oiseau de proie.^[9][2]
2. Anything seized by force; booty.^[9][1]
3. A person taken or victimised: être la proie d'un escroc.^[9][4]
4. Être la proie de, en proie à: in the grip of, a prey to: être la proie des flammes, en proie au doute.^[6][9]

Related words

• prédateur
• déprédation
• prendre
• Latin praeda

Usage notes

Lâcher la proie pour l'ombre means to give up a sure thing for an illusory one.^[9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 285b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6714
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 e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert