soir French · revision 16329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la sērus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Europe): /swaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada, French, standard): /swɑːʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /swɛː(ɾ)/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /swɛːʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''soir''' ''m'' (plural soirs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|ser]] (about 980), [[m|fro|seir]] (1080), ''soir'' (about 1160).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|seir]], [[inh|la|sērō|t=late, too late]], an adverb formed from [[m|la|sērus|t=late]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|11, 516b) Old Occitan had both [[m|pro|ser]] (about 1135), from “sērō”, and “sera” (about 1160), from a Late Latin noun “sēra” “evening” that also gave [[it|sera]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[es|tarde]] and [[pt|tarde]] and Catalan “tarda” “evening” come in the same way from [[la|tardē|t=slowly; late]], while classical [[m|la|vesper]] survives in [[vêpres]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Rey compares “sērus” with [[sa|सायम्|tr=sāyám|t=evening]] and Old Irish “sír” “long”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the ''Passion de Clermont'' (late 10th century) as ''ser'', the last hours of the day.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From Old French on it was used after the name of a day and after ''hier'' and ''demain'' (''her seir'', 1080).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''A seyr et a matin'' “unceasingly” (late 11th century) became ''le soir et le matin'' (1480); ''du soir au matin'' (1668) and ''du matin au soir'' (1670) once meant “very quickly”.^(DHLF 1992) The word meant “the west” (1341) and, figuratively, old age (1552, ''le soir de la vie'', 1635).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ In 1690 it was used of the second half of the afternoon, a sense kept in ''journal du soir'', and also of the part of the night up to bedtime, a sense later taken by [[soirée]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''À ce soir'' is recorded in 1756, Quebec French says ''à soir'' for ''ce soir'', and in African French ''soir'' may mean the afternoon.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Ser'' in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1080 – ''Her seir'' “yesterday evening”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1160 – The form ''soir''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1341 – “The west”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1552 – “Old age”, in Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – ''Soirée''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – “The second half of the afternoon”, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1756 – ''À ce soir''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|evening|alt=Evening]], the end of the day: ''le soir tombe'', ''tous les soirs''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Ce soir'': this evening, tonight, ''à ce soir'', see you tonight.^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(dated)'' The second part of the afternoon: ''quatre heures du soir'', ''journal du soir''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(Africa)'' The afternoon.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(literary)'' Old age: ''le soir de la vie''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[serein]]

+ * [[soirée]]

+ * [[bonsoir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vêpres]]

+ * [[la|sērō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary also records ''soir'' as a spelling of the verb ''seoir'' “to suit” after the 1990 spelling reform.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}