relief French · revision 15893

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la levō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁə.ljɛf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''relief''' ''m'' (plural reliefs)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from [[relever]], made on the old stressed forms of the verb such as “je relief”,^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|5, 271b) the verb being [[inh|la|relevō|t=to raise again; to relieve]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) The sense “projection, relief” (1571) was influenced by [[it|rilievo]], from [[m|it|rilevare]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré explains the diphthong “ie” as a strengthening of the Latin stressed “e”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ [[es|relieve]] and [[pt|relevo]] in the sense “relief” come from Italian.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''Iluec paist l'um del relef de la table'' “there he is fed on the leftovers of the table”.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''relief'' was what is taken up from a served table, the leftovers (plural about 1320); the plural ''les reliefs'' “remains of a meal” is now literary (La Fontaine's ''reliefs d'ortolans'').^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) In feudal law it was also the fee paid by an heir to take up a fief.^(Littré 1873)^(AND)

+

+ From the 16th century, under Italian influence, it was a term of sculpture for work standing out from a flat ground (1547, 1571), whence ''bas-relief'' (1633) and ''haut-relief'' (1669).^(BHVF)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In painting it is the appearance of depth given by light and shade (1577);^(BHVF) in geography it is the forms of the land surface;^(TLFi) and figuratively it is distinctness or prominence (''mettre en relief'', ''un caractère sans relief'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) ''Relief acoustique'' (1908, 1934) is a sense of space in sound.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Relef'' “leftovers” in ''Saint Alexis''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1547 – A term of sculpture, in Jean Martin.^(BHVF)

+ * 1571 – Relief sculpture.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1577 – The relief of figures in a painting.^(BHVF)

+ * 1633 – ''Bas-relief''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1669 – ''Haut-relief''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|relief|alt=Relief]], a projection from a surface: ''lettres en relief''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(sculpture)'' A relief: ''bas-relief'', ''haut-relief''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(geography)'' The relief, the shape of the land surface: ''relief montagneux''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The appearance of depth: ''cinéma en relief''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Prominence, distinctness: ''mettre en relief'': to highlight, ''sans relief'': flat, dull.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural, literary)'' The leftovers of a meal: ''les reliefs du festin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bas-relief]]

+ * [[haut-relief]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[relever]]

+ * [[lever]]

+ * [[it|rilievo]]

+ * [[en|relief]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}