plus French · revision 16217

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont|origins=la plūs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ply/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /plys/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /plyz‿/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec, informal): /py/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''plus'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|plus]], [[inh|la|plūs|t=more]], the comparative of [[m|la|multus|t=much]] (whence [[moult]]), corresponding to [[grc|πολύς|tr=polús]].^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|9, 102a)^(Wiktionary) With adjectives “plūs”, like [[m|la|magis]], tended to replace the comparative formed with a suffix; this use must have been common in speech, and, supported by its opposite [[m|la|minus]], “plūs” ousted “magis” (whence [[mais]]).^(DHLF 1992) It belongs to the root of [[m|la|pleō|t=to fill]] and [[m|la|plēnus|t=full]] (whence [[plein]]), but the details of its form are hard to explain; the “u” of Old Latin [[m|la|plous]] is due to “minus”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|più]] and [[oc|plus]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion de Clermont'' (about 980) has it as “more”: ''trenta tres anz et alques plus'' “thirty-three years and a little more”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Plus'' with an adjective, “to a higher degree”, and ''plus que'' “more than” are found in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050), and ''plus de'' before a number about 1100.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Other phrases followed: ''plus… plus'' “the more … the more” (about 1170), ''sans plus'' (1176–81), ''de plus en plus'' (about 1275), ''qui plus est'' (Villon, 1461) and ''tant et plus'' (1530).^(TLFi) With ''ne'' it has expressed “no longer” since Old French.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In Gallo-Romance ''plus'' as an adverb of quantity belongs to the northern dialects; south of a line from the Vendée to French-speaking Switzerland ''mais'' is used instead.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) In mathematics ''plus'' is pronounced with its ''s'', a pronunciation that tends to spread to avoid confusion with negative ''plus'' [ply].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Plus'' “more” in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Plus'' with an adjective, and ''plus que''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1090 – ''Surplus''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Plus de'' before a number, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1275 – ''De plus en plus''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1461 – ''Qui plus est'' in Villon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Plus d'un'' in La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|more]]: forms the comparative: ''plus grand que''; with the article, the superlative: ''le plus grand''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # More, to a greater extent: ''il travaille plus'', ''plus… plus'' “the more … the more”.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # More (of): ''plus de pain'', ''plus de dix''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Ne… plus'': no more, no longer: ''il ne pleut plus''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Non plus'': neither, either: ''moi non plus''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Plus: ''deux plus deux''.^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le plus'': the most, the maximum: ''le plus possible''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[plus-que-parfait]]

+ * [[surplus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plein]]

+ * [[moult]]

+ * [[mais]]

+ * [[la|plūs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}