moins French · revision 16315

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1135, Couronnement de Louis|origins=la minus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mwɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mwɛ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''moins'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|meins]] (about 1130), [[m|fro|mains]] (late 12th century), ''moins'' (14th century); some speakers still said ''mains'' in the 17th century.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|meins]], [[inh|la|minus|t=less]], the neuter of [[m|la|minor|t=smaller, less]] used as an adverb, serving as the comparative of “parum” “little”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|6/2, 126b) In Latin “minus” was often paired with “plus” and used with negations.^(DHLF 1992) Littré compares Greek “minúthein” “to lessen” and Gothic “mins”.^(Littré 1873) The Grand Robert, after Dauzat, explains the form “moins” as a false regression.^(Grand Robert 2005) The French prefix “mé-”, “més-” does not come from “minus” but from a Germanic negative particle.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|meno]], [[oc|mens]], [[ca|menys]], [[es|menos]] and [[pt|menos]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1135 in the ''Couronnement de Louis'', modifying a verb: ''Or te pris meins que al comencement'' “now I value you less than at the beginning”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the comparative of [[peu]] it modified a verb (1135), an adverb (about 1170) and an adjective (1174–1176).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From 1155 it was used with a number to be taken away from another (''quarante anz un meins'' “forty years less one”), and ''moins de'' with a number is behind its use as a preposition of subtraction (''cinq moins trois'', 1762–1771), though Bonaventure des Périers already counted ''vingt et cinq solz moings un trezain'' in 1558.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ Its many phrases include ''ne plus ne meins'' (about 1160), ''au moins'' (1135), ''à tout le moins'' (1165), ''du moins'' (about 1375), ''de moins en moins'' (1530), ''rien moins que'' (1534), ''plus ou moins'' (1538–1595) and ''à moins que'' (1668).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Au moins'' at the end of a statement, for emphasis, is recorded in 1812.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1135 – ''Meins'' in the ''Couronnement de Louis'', ''al meins'' “at least”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1155 – With a number to be subtracted, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Ne plus ne meins''.^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – The form ''moins''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1530 – ''De moins en moins'' in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1534 – ''Rien moins que'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''À moins que'' with the subjunctive.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1762 – ''Moins'' as a preposition of subtraction, in the Académie dictionary.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|less|alt=Less]]: ''Il travaille moins'', ''moins grand que''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Moins de'': less, fewer: ''moins de dix personnes''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Le moins'': the least.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Au moins'', ''du moins'', ''pour le moins'': at least.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ # ''À moins que'', ''à moins de'': unless.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''De moins en moins'': less and less.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|minus|alt=Minus]]: ''cinq moins trois''; below zero: ''moins dix degrés''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The minus sign.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[diminuer]]

+ * [[menu]]

+ * [[menuiser]]

+ * [[mince]]

+ * [[minute]]

+ * [[minutie]]

+ * [[moindre]]

+ * [[mineur]]

+ * [[la|minus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}