chose French · revision 16228

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Serments de Strasbourg|origins=la causa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃoz/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /ʃoʊ̯z/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chose''' ''f'' (plural choses)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Cosa'' (842), ''cose'' (881), [[m|fro|chiose]] (about 1125), ''chose'' (about 1174).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|chose]], [[inh|la|causa|t=cause, lawsuit; matter]].^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|2, 541a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In legal language “causa” was often used beside [[m|la|rēs|t=thing]] (whence [[rien]]), and, from it took the senses “affair” and, in Late Latin, “thing”, replacing “rēs”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré notes it in this sense in the Salic Law, Gregory of Tours and the Capitularies.^(Littré 1873) [[cause]] is a learned doublet.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|cosa]], [[es|cosa]], [[pt|coisa]] and [[pro|cauza]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have ''cosa'', a reality determined by the context: ''in cadhuna cosa'' “in every thing”.^(TLFi) ''Niule cose'' “nothing” is found in the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia'' (about 880).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense was “a reality more or less defined by the context”, sometimes philosophically opposed to appearance, to idea or to word.^(DHLF 1992) Its vagueness made it fit to stand for many terms: from the 12th century it was a euphemism for sexual intercourse (''la cose fere'') and the sexual organs.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''La chose publique'' (1352–56) translates Latin ''res publica''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it took the sense of “inanimate thing” as opposed to a person, and named something or someone whose name one has forgotten.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Quelque chose'' (early 14th century) replaced Old French ''auques''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The adjective ''tout chose'' “odd, out of sorts” dates from 1739.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Cosa'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 880 – ''Niule cose'' “nothing”.^(TLFi)

+ * late 12th century – ''La cose fere'', a euphemism.^(TLFi)

+ * early 14th century – ''Quelque chose''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1352–56 – ''La chose publique''.^(TLFi)

+ * 16th century – For something whose name escapes one.^(TLFi)

+ * 1739 – ''Tout chose''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|thing]]: any reality, concrete or abstract: ''chaque chose en son temps''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An inanimate object, as opposed to a person.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Les choses'': things, reality, the situation: ''les choses sont ainsi''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # What one owns or can dispose of.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Quelque chose'': something, ''peu de chose'': little, not much.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar, masculine)'' ''Chose'': what's-his-name: ''Monsieur Chose''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Tout chose'': odd, out of sorts.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chosette]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cause]]

+ * [[causer]]

+ * [[rien]]

+ * [[la|causa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}