mère French · revision 16289

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=ine-pro *méh₂tēr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: [ˈmɛ.ʁə]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): [maɛ̯ʁ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mère''' ''f'' (plural mères)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|madre]], [[m|fro|medre]] (about 980) and [[m|fro|mere]] (about 1050); the Académie wrote ''mere'' in 1694 and 1718, ''mére'' in 1740 and ''mère'' from 1762.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|medre]], [[inh|la|māter|t=mother; mother country; source]] (accusative “mātrem”), from [[itc-pro|*mātēr]], from [[ine-pro|*méh₂tēr]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|6/1, 467b) Unlike [[m|la|genitrix]] and [[m|la|mamma]], the Latin word could be used of animals; it also meant a main branch or trunk, a cause or source, and a nurse, and, like “pater”, it was added to a goddess's name as a mark of respect.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The Indo-European word, with its religious and social value, is also seen in [[sa|माता|tr=mātā́]], [[grc|μήτηρ|tr=mḗtēr]], [[de|Mutter]] and [[en|mother]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Cognate with [[it|madre]], [[oc|maire]], [[ca|mare]] and [[es|madre]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the late 10th century, as ''medre'' “woman who has borne a child” in the ''Vie de saint Léger'' and as ''madre'', of the Virgin Mary, in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Mère de famille'' (1510) is a calque of Latin ''mater familias'', ''fille-mère'' (1848) has given way to ''mère célibataire'' (1961), and the ''fête des Mères'' dates from about 1935.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The Church was ''mère iglise'' about 1130, and ''notre mère sainte Église'' at the end of the 12th century.^(TLFi) About 1200 the word was used of a female animal with young.^(TLFi)

+

+ As a title it named a married innkeeper (1580), a professed nun (1612) and the mother superior (1664); ''ma bonne mère'' (1721) and ''ma petite mère'' (1756) are familiar forms of address, and in 1841 ''petite mère'' was the madam of a brothel.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) Figuratively it means the source of something (''l'oisiveté est mère de luxure'', 1546, Rabelais), the place of origin (1558, Du Bellay) and, in apposition, the principal one: ''mère patrie'' (1774), ''langue mère'' (1690), ''idée mère'' (1745).^(TLFi) ''Mère de vinaigre'', the film formed in vinegar, is recorded in 1868.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Medre'' and ''madre'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger'' and the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – The form ''mere''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1200 – Female animal with young.^(TLFi)

+ * 1510 – ''Mère de famille''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1612 – ''Mère'' as the title of a nun.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Langue mère''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1774 – ''Mère patrie''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1848 – ''Fille-mère''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1935 – ''La fête des Mères''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mother]]: ''Elle est mère de trois enfants.''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A female animal with young.^(TLFi)

+ # A title for a nun, ''la mère supérieure'', the [[m|en|mother superior]].^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''La mère'' + name: an old woman, ''ma petite mère'', as a form of address.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ # The source or origin of something: ''L'oisiveté est la mère de tous les vices'', ''la mère patrie''.^(TLFi)

+ # In apposition: principal, parent: ''maison mère'', ''langue mère''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Mère de vinaigre'': [[m|en|mother of vinegar]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[belle-mère]]

+ * [[grand-mère]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maternel]]

+ * [[père]]

+ * [[la|māter]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate adjective ''mère'' “pure” (1369), from Latin ''mera'', feminine of ''merus'', survives only in the technical phrase ''mère goutte'', the first juice that runs before pressing; it is placed before the noun after the Latin ''merum vinum''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Old French had the more popular form ''mier'', as in ''or mier'' “pure gold”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}