sang

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɑ̃/^[1]
• IPA: /sɑ̃.k‿/^[1]

Forms

sang m (plural sangs)^[1] Old French sanc (1080).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sanc, inherited from Latin sanguen, a neuter form, common in classical Latin, of sanguis (“blood”), through the popular accusative “sanguem”.^{[3][2][4][5][6][1]} Latin “sanguis” was flowing blood, as opposed to cruor (“shed, clotted blood”) (see cruel); it also meant kinship and descent, and figuratively vital force.^[2][5] The word is of obscure origin, like its Greek and Welsh equivalents Ancient Greek αἷμα (haîma) and Welsh gwaed, Wiktionary traces it to the oblique stem of Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”).^[2][1]

Cognate with Italian sangue, Occitan sang, Catalan sang, Spanish sangre, Portuguese sangue and Romanian sânge.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 10th century in the Passion of Clermont, meaning the red liquid that keeps the body alive; about 1050 the Vie de saint Alexis speaks of the sanc precïus shed by Christ.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the Chanson de Roland blood stands for violent death, and the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has humes de sancs “men of blood”, se baigner dans le sang (1574), mettre en sang (1636) and se battre au premier sang (1694) followed.^[3] From about 1165 the word expressed states of mind thought to depend on the blood, whence avoir le sang chaud (1636) and se faire du mauvais sang (1766); bon sang ne peut faillir (about 1330) became bon sang ne saurait mentir.^[3][2]

As in Latin, sang meant kinship, family and descent, by the old belief, made obsolete by the science of the 19th century, that blood carries inherited and racial features: la voix du sang, prince du sang, la force du sang (1690).^[2][3] Technical uses include sang artériel and sang veineux (1520), animaux à sang chaud and à sang froid (1781) and, in cooking, lièvre au sang (1740).^[3] The compound sang-froid dates from 1569, after froit sang (1395).^[4]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Sang in the Passion of Clermont.^[3]
• c. 1050 – Christ's precious blood, in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• c. 1100 – Blood as violent death, in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• 1395 – Froit sang, sang-froid 1569.^[4]
• 1520 – Sang arterial, sang veynal.^[3]
• 1740 – Lièvre au sang.^[3]
• 1781 – Animaux à sang chaud, à sang froid.^[3]
• 1842 – Pur-sang.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. blood: perdre du sang, donner son sang.^[5]
2. Bloodshed, violent death: verser le sang, à feu et à sang.^[3][2]
3. Life, vital force; temper: avoir le sang chaud, se faire du mauvais sang, to worry.^[3][2]
4. Kinship, family, descent: les liens du sang, prince du sang.^[2][5]

Word family

• pur-sang
• sang-froid
• sanglant
• saigner

Related words

• sanguin
• consanguin
• exsangue
• Latin sanguis

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 170a