falloir French · revision 16230

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1160, Eneas|origins=la fallō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fa.lwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''falloir''' (defective)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French present ''falt'', ''faut'' (12th century); the infinitive ''falloir'' and the other forms were built in the 15th–16th centuries on ''il faut''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|faillir|t=to fail, be lacking]], remade after its third person singular “il faut” (earlier “falt”), on the model of [[valoir]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) “Faillir” comes from popular [[inh|la-vul|*falliō|alt=*fallīre|t=to be lacking]], an alteration of Classical Latin [[m|la|fallō|t=to deceive; to fail; to escape]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) “Il faut” continues [[m|la-vul|*fallit]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Littré calls “falloir” the same word as “faillir”, differing only in its conjugation.^(Littré 1873) Compare [[frp|falêr]], from a similar development.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1160, in the ''Roman d'Eneas'', in the sense “to be lacking”: ''petit en falt que'' “little is lacking that, it nearly happened that”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to be lacking” survives in ''peu s'en faut'' and ''il s'en faut de peu'', ''tant s'en faut''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) From about 1165 (Chrétien de Troyes) ''falloir'' expressed need and necessity, which became its main sense.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Il faut que'' “it is inevitable that” (mid-15th century) eliminated two other impersonal verbs with that sense, ''estovoir'' and ''estre mestier''.^(DHLF 1992) ''Comme il faut'' “as is proper” is found in 1548, and as an adjective (''des gens comme il faut'') in 1790.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From about 1657 (Pascal) ''il faut'' + infinitive also expresses a supposition that explains a fact (''il faut qu'il soit malade'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1160 – ''Petit en falt que'' in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – Of necessity, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * mid-15th century – ''Il faut que'' “it is inevitable that”.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th–16th centuries – The infinitive ''falloir'' is formed.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1548 – ''Comme il faloit''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1657–62 – Of a supposition, in Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1790 – ''Des gens comme il faut''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(impersonal)'' ''Il faut'': it is [[m|en|necessary]], one must, (someone) needs: ''il faut partir'', ''il me faut de l'argent''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Il faut que'' + subjunctive: (someone) has to: ''il faut que tu viennes''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To take (time): ''il faut deux heures pour y aller''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Il faut'' + infinitive: must (of a supposition): ''il faut être fou pour…''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''S'en falloir'': to be lacking: ''il s'en faut de peu'', ''tant s'en faut'', far from it.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Comme il faut'': properly, (adjective) respectable.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[faillir]]

+ * [[faute]]

+ * [[faux]]

+ * [[la|fallō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Falloir'' is used only in the third person singular with the impersonal ''il''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}