Etymologically
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rien

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁjɛ̃/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [ʁjɛn][1]

Forms

rien n[1] Old French ren (about 980), rien (11th–12th century); subject singular riens.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French rien, inherited from Latin rem (“thing”), the accusative of “rēs”, “reī” “thing”.[2][5][6][7] The Latin word first meant “property, possessions”, as in “res publica” (whence république), then a matter to discuss or an affair at law, and so anything that exists, a thing; it competed with causa, which reached the same sense and gave chose.[2] Bloch and Wartburg explain the survival of the accusative by the fact that a thing is more often the object of an action, unlike on, which comes from a nominative.[7] Occitan res and Catalan res continue the nominative “rēs” with a similar development.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion de Clermont (about 980) has ren with a negation, “nothing”: El mor a tort, ren non forsfist “he died wrongly, he did nothing wrong”.[8][6]

Semantic evolution

In accordance with its origin, rien was at first a feminine noun, “thing” (about 1050), and kept this value until the end of the 16th century.[7][6] Through its use in negative sentences it became a negative word itself and took the masculine gender, which appears in the 15th century; it eliminated the negative pronoun néant.[7] Rien alone meaning “nothing” is recorded from 1538.[6]

Phrases followed: ne… rien du tout (1559), ne… rien de rien (1690), ce n'est rien (1538) and ne rien être à qqn (1680).[3] Cela n'est pas rien “that is something” is recorded in 1640.[8] The noun un rien “a trifle” and the compound vaurien are later formations.[1][9]

Timeline

  • c. 980 – Ren non “nothing” in the Passion de Clermont.[8]
  • c. 1050 – Rien as a feminine noun, “thing”.[6][3]
  • 1130–40 – Ne… rien in Wace.[8]
  • 15th century – Rien becomes masculine.[7]
  • 1538 – Rien alone, “nothing”.[6]
  • late 16th century – Last uses of the feminine noun “thing”.[7]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. nothing: with ne or alone: je ne vois rien, rien à faire.[1][3]
  2. (literary, archaic) Anything: sans rien dire, avant de rien décider.[1]
  3. Ce n'est rien: it doesn't matter, de rien: you're welcome.[3][1]

Noun

  1. A trifle, a nothing: un rien l'amuse, en un rien de temps.[1][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 285a
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d 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
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert