remède

Forms

remède m (plural remèdes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin remedium (“remedy, medicine, expedient”).^[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed from re-, here an intensive prefix, and medeor (“to heal, treat”).^[3][4][5] Old French also had a more popular form remire (about 1120), matching mire “physician”; it is still found once in the 15th century.^[3][6][5] The word was also feminine in Old French.^[3]

Cognate with Romanian remediu, Occitan remedi, Italian rimedio, Catalan remei, Spanish remedio and Portuguese remedio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1181, as remede de medecines, in the statutes of hospitals and leper houses, for any means of treating a disease.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it meant any means, hygienic, medical or surgical, used to cure or prevent illness; in the 17th century être dans les remèdes meant to be under treatment, and mercury against syphilis was le grand remède (1690).^[3][8] The narrower sense “medicinal substance” took over in the 18th century.^[3][4] Under Louis XIV it was used as a euphemism for an enema.^[8][6]

The figurative sense, whatever counters an evil, is found from about 1174–1176 as remedie, and in its modern form about 1283 in Beaumanoir.^[2][3][8] The phrase sans remède dates from about 1360, remède d'amour (later remède contre l'amour, of an old and ugly person) from 1690, and aux grands maux, les grands remèdes from 1823.^[3][2] English remedy (about 1200) comes from Anglo-French remedie.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – The popular form remire is recorded.^[3]
• 1174–1176 – Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence writes remedie for a cure for any evil.^[2]
• 1181 – Remede de medecines in hospital statutes.^[2]
• c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses the form remede.^[3][8]
• 1586 – Goldsmiths use it for the tolerance allowed in the weight and fineness of precious metal.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records faire des remèdes and le grand remède.^[4]
• 1797 – First record of remèdes de bonne femme.^[2]
• 1864 – George Sand writes remède de cheval.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Any substance or treatment used against a disease.^[7]
2. A medicine, a medicinal substance: prendre un remède.^[7][2]
3. Remède de cheval: a very strong, harsh remedy, and remède de bonne femme: a home remedy.^[7][3]
4. (figurative) A means of combating or putting an end to an evil or a difficulty, a remedy: sans remède.^[7][3]
5. (goldsmithing) The tolerance allowed between the actual and the legal weight and fineness of articles of precious metal.^[2]

Related words

• remédier
• remédiable
• irrémédiable
• médecin
• Latin remedium
• English remedy

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com