general

Forms

general (feminine generale, generales)^[1]

• generaus, generaul, generaz, generaulx, generalle, generele^[2][3][4]

As a noun for a monks' meal it also appears as generare, generar, generart and generet.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin generālis (“belonging to a kind”).^[1][2][6][7] The Latin adjective is formed from genus (“birth, kind”) with the suffix -ālis.^[1][8]

The DEAF explains the Old French senses “high-born”, “noble, generous” and “learned” by a crossing of meaning with Latin generōsus, and follows the FEW in taking the logical sense, valid for a whole class, from the language of the schools.^[2][9] The sense “in charge of a whole domain” goes back to the late Roman jurists.^[2][6] The DEAF takes the noun forms ending in ⟨-are⟩ and ⟨-et⟩ for local changes of suffix.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Philippe de Thaon's Anglo-Norman Bestiaire, of about 1130 and probably between 1121 and 1135, where the phrase general pechié means original sin, the sin common to all that baptism washes away.^[10][2] The TLFi and the DHLF date the same record 1121–1134 and give the sense as “common to a whole set of cases or persons”.^[6][11]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th and 13th centuries the word had a cluster of senses, many of them lost later.^[2][5] In Picard and Norman texts it meant “high-born”, “noble, generous” and “learned, skilled”; the generous heart, cuer general, of Baudouin de Condé belongs here.^[2][12] It also qualified what is common and ordinary, as the usurers who are li generaus mes d'enfer “the everyday dish of hell” in the Songe d'Enfer.^[2] From the end of the 12th century it was used of an assembly of all the members of a body, as in concile general and chapitle general.^[2][5] From about 1265, in Brunetto Latini's Trésor, it was the term of the schools for what holds for a whole class as against the particular.^[2][5]

As a noun it named the separate meal served to each monk in the order of Cluny, and then any meal or portion.^[13][12] In Medieval Latin generale was a monastery's allowance of food.^[14] The phrase en general is recorded from about 1270.^[6][2]

Joined to the name of an office it marked the holder with charge of a whole domain, as in vicares generals of 1330 and the generaulx tresoriers of 1365.^[6][2] Bloch and Wartburg date capitaine general to the 14th century and the noun for the commander of an army to the 15th,^[15] while the TLFi records the noun from the late 16th century.^[6] Modern French has général.^[6]

Timeline

• 1121–1135 – general pechié “original sin” in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[10][2]
• 1169 – the noun for a monks' meal in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[12][13]
• c. 1189 – “noble, generous” in the Chanson d'Aspremont.^[2]
• 1180–1200 – of an assembly in the Lorraine Sermons of saint Bernard.^[2][16]
• c. 1200 – “high-born” in the Picard Godefroy de Bouillon.^[2][17]
• c. 1237 – “learned, skilled” in Henri d'Andeli.^[2]
• c. 1265 – valid for a whole class, in Brunetto Latini's Trésor.^[2][5]
• c. 1270 – en general in Huon de Saint-Quentin.^[6][2]
• 1330 – vicares generals, with the name of an office.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. general, valid for a whole class as against the particular; universally valid, of a rule.^[2][3]
2. common to all; ordinary, everyday.^[2][18]
3. of an assembly: gathering all the members of a community.^[2][3]
4. of an official: having charge of a whole domain.^[2][3]
5. high-born, noble; noble-minded, generous.^[2][12]
6. learned, skilled.^[2][13]

Noun

1. the general, what holds for a whole class.^[2][19]
2. (monasticism) a meal served to each monk separately in the order of Cluny; a meal, a portion.^[13][12]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word general, dates its first citation 1121–1135, and lists spellings such as generaus, generaulx, generalle and generele.^[3] Among its insular senses are a court or assembly for a whole territory, an official with overall responsibility, the crusade proclaimed by the Pope, the university school where all subjects were taught, and the heir general, which includes female heirs.^[3] Middle English general came from Latin and Old French;^[20] Etymonline dates it to about 1200, whence the English word general.^[21]

Word family

• generaument
• generauté

Descendants

• Middle French general (→ French général)^[22][6]
• Middle English general (borrowed; → English general)^[20][21]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch, the AND, the DEAF and the DMF head the word general;^{[18][3][2][22]} Godefroy gives the noble senses and the monks' meal separate articles.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. general1
3. ^ a b c d e f g Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. general
4. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
5. ^ a b c d e Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4:97
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
7. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 503
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. generālis
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4:98
10. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. PhThBestWa
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. général
12. ^ a b c d e Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. general
13. ^ a b c d e Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 4:256
14. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. generalis
15. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 331
16. ^ Stein, Achim; Kunstmann, Pierre; Gleßgen, Martin-D., eds., Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam, version 4 (lemmatised corpus of Old French texts, after A. Dees), Universität Stuttgart, github.com/michaniets/NCA (texts by DEAF siglum), p. SBernAn2S
17. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. GodBouillH
18. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:242
19. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:244
20. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
21. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
22. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. general