Etymologically
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sinon

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /si.nɔ̃/[1]

Forms

sinon[1] Old French se… non, se… nun, with other words between (Chanson de Roland); senon early 14th century, sinon in one word from the late 15th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a compound from French si + non, joining the construction Old French se… nun “except”, in which other words stood between the two parts.[3][2][5][4][6] “Se” was the usual Old French form of the conjunction si, from Latin sī (“if”).[4] Wiktionary compares Catalan sinó and Portuguese senão.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland already has the separated construction: ne me crerez se de vostre prod nun “you will not believe me except for your own good”; the two parts are first found together about 1350, se non in Gilles le Muisit.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the early 15th century senon meant “if not, except” (the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris), and Commynes writes sinon about 1500.[3] Montaigne (1580) uses it in concessions, often with au moins, and by 1588 for “and perhaps even”: me voicy comme j'y entray, sinon un peu mieux.[3] The meaning “otherwise, or else” after an order or condition is noted in d'Aubigné at the end of the 16th century.[2] Sinon que “unless” and “except that” dates from the 14th and 15th centuries.[3] In current colloquial speech sinon is also used for “otherwise, apart from that, by the way”, a use Wiktionary marks as proscribed.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Se… nun “except”, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1350 – Se non together, Gilles le Muisit.[3]
  • c. 1500 – Sinon, Commynes.[3]
  • 1580 – Concessive sinon… au moins, Montaigne.[3]
  • 1588 – Sinon “and perhaps even”, Montaigne.[3]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. otherwise, or else: dépêche-toi, sinon tu seras en retard.[2][7]
  2. except, if not, other than: que faire, sinon attendre?, il ne pense à rien, sinon à partir.[8][7]
  3. If not, not to say: il est un des rares, sinon le seul.[7][3]
  4. Sinon que: except that.[7][3]

Adverb

  1. (colloquial) Otherwise, apart from that; by the way.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 561b
  7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert