lieue French · revision 15637

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (liue)|origins=xtg}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ljø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lieue''' ''f'' (plural lieues)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''liue'', ''liwe'', ''luie''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|liue]], [[inh|la-lat|leuca]], also [[m|la-lat|leuga]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 262a) which Latin writers give as a Gaulish word, the Gaulish mile:^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) [[der|xtg|-]].^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary relates it to [[cel-pro|*lougā]] and [[br|lev]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lega]], [[oc|lega]] and [[es|legua]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) The English word [[m|en|league]] comes from Old French.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) measures distances in ''liues'': the horn is heard thirty leagues away.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The league, roughly four kilometres but varying by region and use, stayed in use until the 20th century, giving way to the kilometre imposed by the Revolution.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It survives in the ''lieue marine'' (1704), in Jules Verne's ''Vingt mille lieues sous les mers'' and in the ''bottes de sept lieues'' of Perrault's ''Petit Poucet''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Figuratively it means a great distance (Mme de Sévigné, 1671), as in ''être à cent lieues de'' “to be miles from (thinking)” (1866),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) and by exaggeration a short distance that seems long (Beaumarchais, 1775).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Liue'' (''Roland'').^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1671 – “A great distance” (Sévigné).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1704 – ''Lieue marine''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1775 – A distance that seems long (Beaumarchais).^(TLFi)

+ * 1866 – ''Être à cent lieues de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' A [[m|en|league]], an old measure of distance of about four kilometres.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Lieue marine'': a sea league of three nautical miles.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Être à cent lieues de'': to be far from (thinking, imagining).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[banlieue]]

+ * [[en|league]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}