seul French · revision 15909

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion of Clermont|origins=la sōlus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sœl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''seul''' (feminine seule, masculine plural seuls, feminine plural seules)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|sols]] (subject case), [[m|fro|sol]], ''sul'' (object case); ''seul'' from about 1175, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|sol]], [[inh|la|sōlus|t=alone, only; solitary, deserted]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|12, 78b) a word of unknown origin.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré compared [[grc|ὅλος|tr=hólos|t=whole]] and [[la|salvus]].^(Littré 1873) The learned [[solo]], from Italian, is a doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|solo]], [[pro|sol]], [[ca|sol]], [[es|solo]] and [[pt|só]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) has ''sols'' “without help”;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''tut sul'' “all alone” and ''un sul'' “a single one”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the adjective meant “alone, without company” and “sole, only”, and was used in negation (''ne… sol'', 1165–1170) and with ''tout'' (''tout seul'', 1080).^(DHLF 1992) ''Seul à seul'' “in private” goes back to ''sol a sol'' (1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure); it was long treated as invariable, though writers since the 18th century often make both words agree.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From Latin it also had the sense “deserted” (about 1190), now lost.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Un seul'' and ''pas un seul'' date from the 16th century, ''seul'' “by itself alone” (''du seul coup de son imagination'') from Montaigne (1580), and ''comme un seul homme'' from Bossuet (1687).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In the 17th century it took the sense “without friends or support” (''seul contre tous'', Molière, 1661, ''seul dans le monde'', Mme de Sévigné, 1680), later ''seul au monde''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Cela va tout seul'' dates from 1679, and in music ''voix seule'' (1835) competes with ''solo''.^(DHLF 1992) The adverb ''seulement'' dates from about 1121.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Sols'' in the Clermont ''Passion''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Tut sul'' in ''Saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1121 – ''Seulement''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1165 – ''Sol a sol''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – The form ''seul''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1580 – “By itself alone”, in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1661 – ''Seul contre tous'' in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1687 – ''Comme un seul homme'' in Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|alone|alt=Alone]], on one's own: ''vivre seul'', ''tout seul'', ''seul à seul'': in private.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|lonely|alt=Lonely]], having few ties: ''se sentir seul'', ''seul au monde''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Only, sole, [[m|en|single]]: ''un seul exemple'', ''le seul responsable'', ''pas un seul'': not a single one.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Alone, by itself: ''la seule pensée de…'', ''à lui seul''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Cela va tout seul'': it's easy, it goes smoothly.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le seul, la seule'': the only one: ''il est le seul à savoir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[seulement]]

+ * [[seulet]]

+ * [[souleur]]

+ * [[esseulé]]

+ * [[seulement]]

+ * [[esseulé]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[solitude]]

+ * [[solo]]

+ * [[solitaire]]

+ * [[désoler]]

+ * [[la|sōlus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}