star

Forms

star f (plural stars)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English star (“star, celebrity”).^[2][3][4][1] The English word goes back to Old English steorra; it was used from 1824 for a leading performer in the theatre, and in 1914 for film actors.^[2][3] Rey relates it to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ster-, also behind Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr) (whence astre) and Latin stella (whence étoile).^[3] It is thus a doublet of aster.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The English word appears in 1844 in a French text on the theatre, glossed as an elite actor whom the English “call their star”.^[5][2][3] As a French word it is found in Le Film in 1919, first as a masculine (16 February) and a month later as a feminine, for a film star.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Star named a famous film actor, above all an actress, as an equivalent of étoile; after 1950 it carried the image of an object of worship tied to Hollywood cinema.^[3] About 1965 it widened to any very prominent person, in politics, sport and elsewhere.^[3][7] Bloch and Wartburg date it only from 1933.^[4]

It gained new favour in the compound superstar (about 1970), from American English, and gave French derivatives such as stariser “to make a star of” (1967) and starisation (1967), while starlette (1953, first starlet in 1922) was borrowed from English starlet.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1844 – Used once as an English word in a French text on the theatre.^[5][3]
• 1919 – Le star (masculine) in Le Film of 16 February.^[2]
• 1919 – The feminine, in Le Film of 16 March.^[2][6]
• 1922 – Starlet appears, later starlette.^[2][3]
• c. 1965 – Extended to any very prominent person.^[3]
• c. 1970 – Superstar is borrowed.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A famous film star, especially an actress; a vedette.^[7][2][6]
2. (by extension) A celebrity, a very prominent person in any field, as in Ce footballeur est devenu une star du jour au lendemain.^[7][3]

Word family

• stariser
• starisation
• starifier

Related words

• starlette
• superstar
• étoile
• astre
• English star

Usage notes

Star is feminine even when it refers to a man;^[3][1] star masculine is sometimes used (about 1978).^[3][1]

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 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert