moyen French · revision 15870

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 12th century, Oxford Psalter|origins=la medius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mwa.jɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''moyen''' ''m'' (plural moyens)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|meien]] (about 1120), [[m|fro|moien]] (about 1175); ''moyen'' from the early 14th century.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|meien]], [[inh|la|mediānus|t=of the middle]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 578a) an imperial Latin derivative of [[m|la|medius|t=middle]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Petit Robert traces “medius” to the Indo-European root also seen in [[grc|μέσος|tr=mésos]], [[de|Mitte]] and [[en|middle]].^(Petit Robert 2007) It is a doublet of the borrowing [[médian]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|mezzano]], [[oc|mejan]], [[ca|mitjà]], [[es|mediano]] and [[pt|meão]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has ''meiens clergiez'', and the Cambridge Psalter ''mëens termes'' for Latin ''medios terminos'': “in the middle”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1260 the adjective took the sense “between two extremes”: ''moien aage'' “middle age” and ''moiennes gens'' “people of middle rank”;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''classe moyenne'' followed in 1815.^(TLFi) From 1273 it meant “ordinary, of the usual kind”, and the pejorative “mediocre” appears in the 19th century (1837, Balzac).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The mathematical ''nombres moyens'' is in Oresme (1377), and the grammatical ''verbes moyens'' (middle voice) dates from 1655.^(TLFi) It was used of intermediate stages of languages (''moyen allemand'', 1827), and ''moyen âge'' “Middle Ages” (1626) adapts Renaissance Latin ''media aetas''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The adjective used as a noun gave ''moyen'' “means”, from about 1370: that which serves to reach an end, ''trouver moyen de'', ''moyen de transport'' (1813).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The plural ''moyens'' meant “resources, wealth” from 1500 and “abilities” from 1580 (''par ses propres moyens'').^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec, ''un moyen …'' can ironically mean “an extraordinary …”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 12th century – ''Meiens'' in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1260 – ''Moien aage'', ''moiennes gens''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1370 – The noun “means”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1377 – ''Nombres moiens'' in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1500 – ''Moyens'' “resources”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1626 – ''Moyen âge''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1815 – ''Classe moyenne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1837 – “Mediocre”, in Balzac.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Middle, intermediate in position, size or degree: ''de taille moyenne'', ''cours moyen''.^(Le Robert)^(Littré 1873)

+ # [[m|en|average|alt=Average]], ordinary; calculated as an average: ''le Français moyen'', ''température moyenne''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Mediocre, only fair.^(TLFi)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of the [[m|en|middle voice]].^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(Quebec, informal)'' Big, remarkable.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|means]], method or way: ''la fin justifie les moyens'', ''au moyen de'': by means of.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Financial means; abilities: ''vivre au-dessus de ses moyens'', ''perdre ses moyens''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[moyennement]]

+ * [[moyenner]]

+ * [[meneau]]

+ * [[moyenne]]

+ * [[Moyen Âge]]

+ * [[moyennant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[médiocre]]

+ * [[mi-]]

+ * [[moitié]]

+ * [[médian]]

+ * [[milieu]]

+ * [[la|medius]]

+ * [[en|mean]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}