Etymologically
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tendresse

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Pronunciation

  • /tɑ̃.dʁɛs/[1]

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]

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