enfant French · revision 16291

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la for}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.fɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''enfant''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural enfants)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French nominative [[m|fro|enfes]], accusative ''enfant''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|enfant]], [[inh|la|īnfāns|t=not speaking; young child]], accusative “īnfantem”, formed with the negative prefix [[m|la|in-]] and the present participle of [[m|la|for|t=to speak]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|4, 658b) The TLFi and Rey treat it as a very early borrowing of Latin “infans”, first written so in the “Vie de saint Léger” and then given the French prefix “en-”; the nominative “enfes” and the accusative “enfant” follow the Latin stress pattern.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) “For” goes back to an Indo-European root “*bhā-” “to speak”, also behind [[fable]] and [[fée]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In classical Latin “infans” meant a baby, then a young child; in Late Latin it also took over the roles of [[m|la|puer]] and [[m|la|puella]] (a boy or girl of about six to fifteen) and of [[m|la|līberī]] (children in relation to their parents).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) In the west and south-west of France dialect words such as “drôle” and “ménage” compete with it.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ Cognate with [[oc|enfant]], [[it|infante]] and [[it|fante|t=servant; foot soldier]], [[es|infante|t=prince]] and [[pt|infante]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the late 10th century in the ''Vie de saint Léger'': ''Quant infans fud'' “when he was a child”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 16th century the word also named a young nobleman (1080), especially one serving as a page (15th century).^(DHLF 1992) It soon ceased to mean only a child who cannot yet speak and was applied to boys and girls up to adolescence (1080); a feminine ''enfante'' (about 1550) did not last.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) From the late 12th century it was used of grown people who behave childishly (''tenir por enfant''), whence ''faire l'enfant'' “to be capricious” (1607) and ''bon enfant'' “good-natured” (1560).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ As a word of kinship it meant a son or daughter about 1050, a descendant in 1538 and, figuratively, a native of a town or milieu (15th century) and the product of something (1640, Corneille).^(TLFi) ''Enfant perdu'', a soldier sent ahead on a dangerous mission (15th century), was modelled on Italian ''fante perduto''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) English took [[m|en|infant]] from French in the 14th century.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Infans'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – “Son or daughter”, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1080 – “Young nobleman”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1180–1190 – ''Tenir por enfant'' “to consider childish”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1532 – A term of affection, in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1560 – ''Bon enfant''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1607 – ''Faire l'enfant'' “to be capricious”.^(BHVF)

+ * 1640 – “Product, result”, in Corneille's ''Cinna''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|child]], a boy or girl before adolescence.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A son or daughter, of any age: ''Ils ont trois enfants.''^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A childish or naive person: ''un grand enfant''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # A [[m|en|native]] of a place or milieu: ''un enfant du pays''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary)'' A product, result: ''les enfants de son imagination''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Bon enfant'': good-natured, easygoing.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Enfant de chœur'': an [[m|en|altar boy]].^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[enfanter]]

+ * [[enfantin]]

+ * [[enfantement]]

+ * [[enfantillage]]

+ * [[fanfan]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enfance]]

+ * [[infantile]]

+ * [[infant]]

+ * [[la|īnfāns]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}