débris French · revision 16015

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1549, Robert Estienne}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /de.bʁi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''débris''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of an old verb [[m|fro|debrisier|t=to break to pieces]], “débriser” (from the “Cambridge Psalter”; still in use in the 17th century),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) an intensive of [[briser]] with “dé-”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) “Briser” is [[la-lat|brīsō|alt=brisāre]] (about 700), of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish “brissim” “I break”).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Etymonline) Littré analysed it as “dé-” + [[bris]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Robert Estienne (1549) has it for the act of breaking, in competition with ''bris'', ''brisement'' and ''brisure''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figuratively it meant destruction, ruin (d'Aubigné, 1616–1620, Racine's ''Seul reste du débris d'une illustre famille''), a sense still used as an archaism by Chateaubriand.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It gave way to the concrete sense, a heap of broken things (Boileau, 1666: ''un long débris de bouteilles cassées''), then what remains of a thing destroyed (Fléchier, 1671), of a ship (1690), of animals (1794) and of human beings (1796).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Delille used ''vieux débris'' without contempt for old people, witnesses of the past; it is now a popular insult for a decrepit old man.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse) English ''debris'' was borrowed in 1708.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1549 – “Breaking”, in Robert Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1616–1620 – “Ruin”, in d'Aubigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1666 – A heap of broken things, in Boileau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – Remains, in Fléchier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1708 – English ''debris''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1794 – Remains of animals, in Condorcet.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Fragments, [[m|en|debris]] (usually plural): ''des débris de verre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Remains: ''les débris d'un repas, d'une fortune''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(literary)'' Mortal remains; ruins (of a building).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(popular)'' ''Vieux débris'': old wreck (of a person).^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[briser]]

+ * [[bris]]

+ * [[en|debris]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}