soulas

Forms

soulas m (invariable)^[1] Old French solaz and solas;^[2][1] soulas is a later form, from about 1200.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French solaz, inherited from Latin sōlācium (“comfort, consolation”),^[3][2][1][4] which in law also meant “compensation”.^[3][2] The Latin noun comes from sōlor (“to comfort, to console”), a verb that gave way early to its compound cōnsōlor, the source of consoler.^[3][2] Rey adds that the further origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[2]

Cognate with Old Occitan solatz and Spanish solaz.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it in the early 12th century, in Albéric's Alexandre, meaning “comfort, consolation”;^[3] Rey dates this sense to about 1090, together with a sense “company, society” that died out in Middle French.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Beside “consolation”, Old French used it for “pleasure, amusement” from about 1165.^[3][2] From about 1200 to the 16th century it also named the joys of love, by the 14th century carnal relations too.^[2] Rabelais still writes joye, soulas et lyesse.^[5]

The Académie called it old from 1694, and by the end of the 16th century Henri Estienne already treated it as an old word;^[3] it lived on in burlesque style into the 17th century and in regional speech.^[2][3] Verlaine and Bernanos revived it in literature.^[3] The slang noun soulasse (Vidocq, 1828), “game” and then “sharper”, continues one of its old senses.^[2]

Timeline

• early 12th century – First recorded as “comfort, consolation”.^[3]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for “pleasure”.^[3]
• c. 1200 – The form soulas appears.^[2]
• 1636 – It is used for help given to the poor.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie marks it as old.^[3]
• 1828 – Vidocq records the slang derivative soulasse.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic or regional) Pleasure, amusement.^[3][5]
2. (archaic or regional) Relief, solace, consolation.^[3][1]

Related words

• consoler
• Latin sōlācium

Usage notes

The final ⟨s⟩ is silent: Littré gives sou-là.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 32b
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette