vierge French · revision 15682

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (virgo)|origins=la virgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vjɛʁʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vierge''' ''f'' (plural vierges)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Virgo'' (about 980), ''virgine'' (about 1050), ''virjne'' (1119), ''virge''^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); ''vierge'' from about 1250.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|virgō|t=maiden, virgin]], taken through Church Latin (accusative “virginem”),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 502b) a word with no known Indo-European counterpart.^(DHLF 1992) In imperial Latin “virgo” was also an adjective for anything unused, the name of a constellation and, in Christian Latin, the Virgin Mary.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary treats the Old French forms as inherited.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[it|vergine]], [[es|virgen]] and [[pt|virgem]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion de Clermont'' (late 10th century) says Christ's mother was ''virgo'';^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Philippe de Thaon has ''virjne'' (1119).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''vierge'' was less common and less general than [[pucelle]].^(DHLF 1992) As an adjective it was applied to things from the 13th century: ''cire vierge'' “virgin wax” (Jean de Meun), ''or vierge'' “pure gold” (1611), ''terres vierges'' “unworked land” (1780), ''forêt vierge'' (Gautier, 1843), and in mountaineering ''cimes vierges'' “unclimbed peaks” (1868).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Montaigne (1588) used it of what is unsullied or incorruptible.^(TLFi)

+

+ Modern uses include ''casier judiciaire vierge'' “clean record” and ''pellicule'' or ''film vierge'', unexposed film.^(GLLF 1989) ''La Vierge'' is the Virgin Mary, and the constellation and sign of Virgo.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 10th century – ''Virgo'' (''Passion'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Virgine''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1119 – ''Virjne'' (Philippe de Thaon).^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1250 – ''Vierge''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1269–1278 – ''Cire vierge''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1780 – ''Terres vierges''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1843 – ''Forêt vierge''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|virgin]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''La Vierge'': the Virgin Mary^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary); ''(astronomy, astrology)'' [[m|en|Virgo]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Virgin, who has had no sexual relations.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Unused, [[m|en|blank]], untouched: ''forêt vierge'', ''casier judiciaire vierge''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Pure, unmixed: ''or vierge''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[virginal]]

+ * [[virginité]]

+ * [[la|virgō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}