Etymologically
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second

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sə.ɡɔ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /sə.ɡɔ̃t‿/[1]
  • IPA: /zɡɔ̃/[1]

Forms

second (feminine seconde, masculine plural seconds, feminine plural secondes)[1] Old French secunt (1119), secund (about 1138), second (about 1155); the variant segond, segont, matching the pronunciation, lasted until the 18th century.[2][3][4] The ⟨c⟩ is a Latinising spelling, pronounced /ɡ/.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin secundus (“following; favourable; second”), a semi-learned word.[4][2][6][3][7][1] The Latin adjective, properly “following”, is an old participle of sequor (“to follow”) (see suivre) with an exceptional ending “-undus”; it was first said of the current carrying a boat downstream or of a following wind, hence “favourable”, and then served as the ordinal of duo.[2] The inherited outcome of “secundus” is the Old French preposition “son”, “segun” “according to” (see selon), and Wiktionary gives son “bran” as a doublet.[2][1]

Compare Old Occitan segon, Spanish segundo, Portuguese segundo and Italian secondo.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) secunt means “second”, coming straight after the first.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

“Favourable” was taken up from Latin about 1180, and about 1200 il n'est nule autre seconde meant that a woman had no equal, whence sans seconde (1455–58).[2][4] Later uses include pain second, brown bread (end of the 14th century), nopces secondes (Amyot, 1559), causes secondes (1656), and de seconde main (1723).[4] As a noun it meant a second cousin and the second subject of a song (about 1260), senses now lost; the assistant who helps a superior gave the ship's mate, a duellist's second and, in shops, the employee next to the head of department (Zola, 1882).[2][8][9] It is now generally preferred to deuxième in careful use when only two things are considered.[2][10]

Timeline

  • 1119 – Secunt, Philippe de Thaon.[4]
  • c. 1155 – The form second, Wace.[3]
  • c. 1180 – “Favourable”.[2]
  • 1455–58 – Sans seconde.[4]
  • 1559 – Nopces secondes, Amyot.[4]
  • 1723 – De seconde main.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. second, coming after the first: pour la seconde fois, le Second Empire, en second lieu.[10][5]
  2. Secondary, of lesser rank: de second ordre, de seconde main, secondhand, indirect.[10][4]
  3. Another, new: une seconde nature, état second, a trance-like state.[11][4]
  4. (literary) Sans second: unequalled.[4]

Noun

  1. The second one: il est second, le second, the pupil ranked second.[5]
  2. An assistant, deputy; a ship's second-in-command, first mate; a duellist's or boxer's second.[9][1]

Word family

  • secondement
  • seconder
  • secondaire

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 382b
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse