adresse French · revision 15843

+ French ''adresse'' “address” and ''adresse'' “skill” both come from Old French ''adrece'' “direct way”, the second influenced by ''adroit''; the dictionaries treat them as two words.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ {{homograph|1|address}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1177–1179, Chrétien de Troyes}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.dʁɛs/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''adresse''' ''f'' (plural adresses)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Old French [[m|fro|adrece|t=direct way, short cut]], a back-formation from [[m|fro|adrecier]], the source of [[adresser]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|18, 4a) itself from [[m|fro|drecier|t=to make straight]], from [[la-vul|*dīrēctiō|alt=*dīrēctiāre]], from [[m|la|dīrēctus|t=straight]].^(Wiktionary) The political sense, a formal message to a ruler, is borrowed from [[en|address]], itself from the French word.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Chrétien de Troyes's ''Chevalier de la charrette'' (1177–1179) has ''une adresce'' for a straight road or short cut through a forest.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old and Middle French the word meant “direction, right way” (about 1280), and in the 15th century “recourse to someone” and “indication, information”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) In the early 17th century it came to mean the place where someone can be found, as in Théophraste Renaudot's ''bureau d'adresses'' (1623), then a person's place of residence and the direction written on a letter.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The phrase ''à l'adresse de'' “aimed at” keeps the old sense of direction.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ The political sense, a message from an assembly to the king, returned from England in 1656 and spread with the Revolution (Mirabeau, 1789);^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Bloch and Wartburg date this ''adresse'' to 1798.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In computing, ''adresse'' is a location in memory, also after English, and an ''adresse électronique'' is an email address.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse) In lexicography it is a headword.^(Larousse)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1177–1179 – ''Adresce'' “short cut” in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1280 – “Right way, direction”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1623 – Renaudot's ''bureau d'adresses''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1656 – An address to the king, after English.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1789 – The political ''adresse'' in Mirabeau.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1960 – Computing derivatives ''adresser'', ''adressable''.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|address]]: the place where someone lives or can be reached: ''partir sans laisser d'adresse'', ''carnet d'adresses''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Une bonne adresse'': a recommended shop or restaurant.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''À l'adresse de'': aimed at, intended for.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A formal message of an assembly to a ruler.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''(computing)'' An address, ''adresse électronique'': an email address.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(lexicography)'' A headword, entry.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[adresser]]

+ * [[carnet d'adresses]]

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+ {{homograph|2|skill}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1547, Noël du Fail}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.dʁɛs/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''adresse''' ''f'' (plural adresses)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The sense “skill” comes from Old French [[m|fro|adrece|t=right direction]], hence “way of going straight to the point”, contaminated by [[adroit]], of which it became the noun.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Noël du Fail's ''Propos rustiques'' (1547) has it,^(BHVF)^(Grand Robert 2005) and Amyot (1559) writes of ''une naturelle adresse à la lutte'', a natural skill at wrestling.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Amyot and Montaigne already use it for both bodily skill and skill in handling affairs, as in ''il n'est pas moins besoing d'adresse et d'art que de force''.^(Littré 1873)^(BHVF) It names physical dexterity (''jeux d'adresse'', ''tours d'adresse'') and the knack of managing people and situations, opposed to [[maladresse]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1547 – In Noël du Fail.^(BHVF)

+ * 1559 – ''Une naturelle adresse à la lutte'' in Amyot.^(TLFi)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|skill|alt=Skill]], [[m|en|dexterity]] of the body: ''jeu d'adresse'', ''tour d'adresse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Skill in handling people or situations; [[m|en|tact]], cleverness.^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maladresse]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[adroit]]

+ * [[dresser]]

+ * [[droit]]

+ * [[en|address]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}