géant French · revision 15769

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland, jaianz|origins=grc γίγας}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒe.ɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''géant''' ''m'' (plural géants, feminine géante)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''jaiant'' (1080), ''gaiant'' (about 1120), ''geant'' (about 1170); ''gaiant'' is still usual in Picard.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|jaiant]], [[inh|la-vul|*gagās|alt=*gagantem]], the accusative of “*gagas”, an altered form of [[la|Gigās|t=Giant]] (plural “Gigantēs”),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|4, 134b) from [[grc|γίγας|tr=gígas]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The “a” of the first syllable is due to assimilation.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) In Greek myth the Giants were monstrous sons of Earth and Sky who tried to storm Olympus and were struck down by Zeus.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Latin word was used as a common noun only late; a popular form is rare outside Gallo-Romance, compare [[pro|jaian]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Littré mentions a link of the Greek word with “gê” “earth”.^(Littré 1873) The learned [[gigantesque]] keeps the Latin stem.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) names the ''jaianz de Malprose'' among the pagan army: men of abnormal size.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In legend (about 1170) a ''géant'' is a fabulous being of huge size, sometimes held to be the ancestor of mankind; in the Bible, the giants born of angels and women.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The adjective appears about 1240, and also from the end of the 17th century (1699; adjective 1791) the word was applied to things.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Figuratively, from Voltaire, a ''géant'' is a person of outstanding stature, as in ''les géants de la route'' (1900), the professional cyclists.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+

+ In astronomy a ''géante'' is a large, low-density star (probably after English ''giant'', 1912), and about 1985 ''c'est géant !'' became a fashionable term of praise, like ''super''.^(DHLF 1992) ''À pas de géant'' “by leaps and bounds” is from 1671.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Jaianz'' (''Roland'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1120 – ''Gaiant'' (Oxford Psalter).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Geant'', a fabulous being.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1240 – An adjective.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – ''À pas de géant''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1699 – Of things.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1900 – ''Les géants de la route''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1985 – ''C'est géant !''^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|giant]], a fabulous being of enormous size; a person of abnormal height.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person of outstanding genius or importance: ''les géants de la littérature''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A very large company or thing: ''un géant de l'automobile''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À pas de géant'': by leaps and bounds.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Giant, huge, [[m|en|enormous]]: ''un écran géant''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Great, fantastic: ''c'est géant !''^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gigantesque]]

+ * [[en|giant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}