tendresse

Forms

tendresse f (plural tendresses)^[1] Anglo-Norman also tendrece, tenderesse.^[2]

Etymology

It is from French tendre (“tender, soft”) + -esse.^[3][1] The adjective goes back to Latin tener (“soft, delicate”).^[4][5] Meyer-Lübke sets up a Latin *teneritia (“tenderness”) for the whole Romance type.^[6] The older language said Old French tendror, and in the 16th century tendreur.^[5][4]

Cognate with Italian tenerezza, Occitan tendresa, Catalan tendresa, Spanish terneza, Portuguese terneza and Romanian tinerețe (“youth”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean de Thuin (about 1240) uses it for tenderness of a material, the quality later called tendreté; in 1319 it means “early youth, childhood”.^[3][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle French the word meant childhood and the frailty of the young (Le Roy, 1551), and, from 1375 the quality of what is easily cut or worked.^[3][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that it stayed rare until the 17th century, when it was specialised for feelings: Voiture (before 1648) uses it for affection shown in gentle words and gestures.^[4][7][3]

Molière has the plural tendresses for caresses and tokens of affection (1666, Le Misanthrope), and in L'Avare (1668) the sense “inclination, leaning”;^[3][8] Madame de Sévigné uses it for a vague emotion (1679).^[3][8] The material sense survives only in the arts, for softness of colour or line, and the word is excluded of meat, which is tendre but has tendreté.^[3][7] A slang sense “a woman of easy virtue” is recorded in 1882.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Jean de Thuin, of a material's tenderness.^[3]
• 1319 – “Early youth, childhood”.^[3][9]
• c. 1375 – Of what is soft or easily cut.^[7]
• Before 1648 – Voiture, of affectionate feeling.^[3]
• 1666 – The plural tendresses, caresses, in Molière's Misanthrope.^[3]
• 1679 – Madame de Sévigné, of a vague emotion.^[3]
• 1882 – Slang sense “woman of easy virtue”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Tenderness, affection: a gentle, loving feeling for someone.^[10][1]
2. By extension, a basic feeling of sympathy and kindness towards others.^[10]
3. (plural) Expressions or tokens of affection: mille tendresses at the end of a letter.^[10][3]
4. (familiar) A fondness, indulgent liking (for an idea, a cause).^[10]
5. (literary, arts) Softness or delicacy of a colour or a material.^[3][8]

Related words

• tendre
• tendreté
• attendrir
• Latin tener

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8647
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert