an French · revision 16298

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-11th century, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la annus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''an''' ''m'' (plural ans)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It continues [[inh|la|annus|t=year; annual harvest]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|24, 623a) Rey describes the Latin word as apparently native to Italy, close to [[osc|akenei|t=in the year]], Wiktionary traces it to [[itc-pro|*atnos]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂et-no-]], probably from a root [[m|ine-pro|*h₂et-|t=to go]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Littré reports older comparisons with Greek and Celtic words and with Oscan “amnud”, none of them settled.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|an]], [[it|anno]], [[oc|an]], [[ca|any]], [[es|año]] and [[pt|ano]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the Gallo-Romance dialects it is less used than [[année]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the mid-11th century in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', as a unit of time: ''Dis e set anz … penat son cors'' “for seventeen years he mortified his body”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1100 the ''Chanson de Roland'' uses it to measure age, saying of Charlemagne that he is two hundred years old and more.^(TLFi) Phrases followed: ''mal an'' “misfortune” (1144), ''par an'' (1273), ''l'an de grâce'' (1260), ''le jour de l'an'' (14th century), ''le nouvel an'' (1611) and ''bon an mal an'' “taking good years with bad” (first half of the 17th century, Scarron).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The service held a year after a death is ''le bout de l'an'' (1549).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In the plural ''ans'' marked age and the passing of time: ''mes vieux ans'' (1636, Corneille), ''le poids des ans'', ''chargés d'ans'' and ''jeunes ans'' have given way to ''années''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The opposition between ''an'', a point in time, and the derivative ''année'' (about 1170), a duration, faded at the end of the 13th century, though some phrases keep ''an'' (''le nouvel an'', ''l'an mil'').^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992) Racehorses are called ''un deux ans'', ''un trois ans'' (1856).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-11th century – ''Anz'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – Used of age, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1144 – ''Mal an'' “misfortune”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – The derivative ''année''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1260 – ''L'an de grâce''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – ''Le jour de l'an''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Le nouvel an''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1656 – ''Bon an mal an'' in Scarron.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|year]], as a unit of time: ''vingt ans après'', ''tant par an''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A year of age: ''Elle a quarante ans.''^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A year as a point in time: ''l'an dernier'', ''l'an prochain'', ''l'an 2000''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Le jour de l'an'', ''le nouvel an'': [[m|en|New Year's Day]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Bon an mal an'': on [[m|en|average]], taking one year with another.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(poetic)'' ''Les ans'': the passing years, age.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[année]]

+ * [[suranné]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[annuel]]

+ * [[anniversaire]]

+ * [[antan]]

+ * [[la|annus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}