océan French · revision 15994

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1112, Voyage of Saint Brendan|origins=grc Ὠκεανός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔ.se.ɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''océan''' ''m'' (plural océans)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Occean'' (about 1112); ''océan'' from about 1160 (Benoît de Sainte-Maure); the Académie wrote ''ocean'' until 1740.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|Ōceanus|t=Ocean (god of the sea); the Atlantic]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|7, 302b) from [[grc|Ὠκεανός|tr=Ōkeanós]], in Homer the mythical river flowing round the earth, then the outer sea bordering the known world, especially the Atlantic.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The origin of the Greek name is unknown; parallel forms such as “ôgênos” suggest a borrowing.^(DHLF 1992) Littré followed a proposed link with a Vedic epithet meaning “encircling”.^(Littré 1873) The TLFi notes that the word was borrowed twice: in the 12th century and again in 1549 (Ronsard).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Anglo-Norman ''Voyage of Saint Brendan'' (early 12th century) has ''occean'' for the great expanse of salt water covering much of the earth.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Benoît de Sainte-Maure speaks of the land ''entre icest flume e l'occean''.^(Littré 1873) From the 13th to the 18th century one also said ''mer océane'', after Latin ''mare oceanum'' (1268).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Ronsard (1549) took the word up again as a proper name, ''l'Océan'', and in France ''l'Océan'' absolutely is the Atlantic (Charron, 1606).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Figuratively Desportes (1594) speaks of ''un ocean de misere et de peines'', and Furetière (1690) has ''un océan de'' for any vast expanse.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The sciences formed ''océanographie'' (1584 once, then 1876), at the time of the ''Challenger'' expedition.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In Canada ''d'un océan à l'autre'' means “across the whole country” (1968).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1112 – ''Occean'' in ''Saint Brendan''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Océan'' in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1268 – ''Mer océane''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1548 – ''Océanique''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1549 – ''L'Océan'' in Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1594 – ''Un ocean de misere'' in Desportes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1876 – ''Océanographie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|ocean]]: ''l'océan Atlantique'', ''l'océan Pacifique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''L'Océan'': in France, the Atlantic: ''les plages de l'Océan''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A vast expanse, sea: ''un océan de verdure''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mythology)'' ''Océan'': Oceanus.^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[océanographie]]

+ * [[océanique]]

+ * [[océanographie]]

+ * [[Océanie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[océanaute]]

+ * [[océanographe]]

+ * [[océanographique]]

+ * [[mer]]

+ * [[grc|Ὠκεανός|tr=Ōkeanós]]

+ * [[en|ocean]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}