précieux French · revision 16059

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁe.sjø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''précieux''' (feminine précieuse, masculine plural précieux, feminine plural précieuses)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|precïus]] (about 1050), ''precios'', ''precieus'' (about 1175), ''précieux'', ''pre-'' in the Académie of 1694 and 1718, ''pré-'' from 1740.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is borrowed from [[la|pretiōsus|t=valuable, costly]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|9, 370a) a derivative of [[la|pretium|t=price, value]] (see [[prix]]); the ending was adapted to the French suffix.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Compare [[pro|precios]], [[es|precioso]] and [[it|prezioso]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''sane precïus'', the precious blood of Christ, with the religious sense “venerable”;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) the ''précieux sang'' was still a term of Catholic theology in 1680 (Richelet).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the first half of the 12th century it already meant “dear, highly valued” (Philippe de Thaon, 1121–1134) and “of great price” (Wace, 1135, ''geme preciouse''), whence ''pierre précieuse''; of a person it meant “worthy of respect, dear” (1145) and later “very useful” (Oresme, about 1370).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Old French already used ''precieuse'' for a prude woman (1280), but the modern noun dates from 1654: a ''précieuse'' was a woman of refined feelings who adopted a new way of speaking and living, after the circle of the Hôtel de Rambouillet.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Molière's ''Les Précieuses ridicules'' (1659) gave the adjective the sense “affected, over-refined”, and, from 1663 the noun became pejorative, La Fontaine used the masculine in 1659.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the decorative arts ''précieux'' described delicately perfect work (''meubles précieux'', 1690), and literary history has used ''le genre précieux'' since 1875.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The derivative ''préciosité'' dates from 1664 (an earlier one about 1300).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Sane precïus'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1121–1134 – “Dear”, in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1135 – ''Geme preciouse'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1370 – “Very useful”, in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1280 – ''Precieuse'' “prude”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1654 – ''Une précieuse''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1659 – ''Les Précieuses ridicules''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1664 – ''Préciosité''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – ''Meubles précieux''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|precious|alt=Precious]], valuable: ''pierres précieuses'', ''métaux précieux'', ''bois précieux''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Highly valued, dear: ''un temps précieux'', ''un ami précieux''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Very useful: ''une aide précieuse''.^(TLFi)^(Le Robert)

+ # Affected, mannered: ''un style précieux''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literature)'' Of the 17th-century précieuses.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(feminine, history)'' A précieuse, ''(by extension)'' an affected person.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[préciosité]]

+ * [[préciosité]]

+ * [[précieusement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prix]]

+ * [[priser]]

+ * [[la|pretiōsus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}