début French · revision 16097

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1642, Oudin}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /de.by/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''début''' ''m'' (plural débuts)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of [[débuter]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) from “dé-” and [[but|t=target, mark]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) The verb (1547) seems to have meant first “to move” and, in games, “to knock (another player's ball) away from the target” (1549), then “to play the first shot” (1640).^(DHLF 1992) Littré explains “début” as the throw made in bowls from the place where the mark is.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Oudin (1642) has it for the first shot in certain games (bowls, billiards), played to decide who goes first.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like the verb, which came to mean “to begin” (1649, with an object; 1665, without), it took the general sense “beginning of something” (Boileau, 1674: ''Que le début soit simple et n'ait rien d'affecté''; 1664–1669 in the dictionaries), with ''au début'' and ''dès le début''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) Furetière (1690) used ''début'' for one's first steps at court, and the plural ''débuts'' for an actor's first appearances (1771), whence ''débuter'' in the theatre (1750).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) English ''debut'' was borrowed in 1751 for a first appearance in society.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1547 – ''Débuter''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1642 – ''Début'' in games, in Oudin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1674 – “Beginning”, in Boileau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – First steps, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1750 – ''Débuter'' on the stage.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1751 – English ''debut''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1771 – ''Débuts'' in the theatre.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|beginning]], start: ''le début du film'', ''au début'', ''début mai'': at the beginning of May, ''un début de rhume''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' Débuts, first steps: ''faire ses débuts à la Comédie-Française''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(games)'' The first throw, to decide who plays first.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[débuter]]

+ * [[débutant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[but]]

+ * [[en|debut]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}