dieu French · revision 16337

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Strasbourg Oaths|origins=ine-pro *deywós}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /djø/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /dzjø/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /d͡ʒø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dieu''' ''m'' (plural dieux, feminine déesse)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Deo'' and ''Deus'' (842), then [[m|fro|Deu]] and ''Dieu'' (11th–12th century); Old French declined nominative ''deus'', ''dex'', ''diex'', object ''deu'', ''dieu''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|Deu]], [[inh|la|deus|t=god]], from Old Latin “deivos”, from [[itc-pro|*deiwos]], from [[ine-pro|*deywós]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 57a) Rey traces it to a root “*dei-” “to shine”, which named the bright sky as a deity and the heavenly beings as opposed to earthly humans; it is the oldest Indo-European name of divinity, also present in [[grc|Ζεύς|tr=Zeús]] and in [[la|diēs|t=day]] (see [[jour]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) “Deus” supplanted [[m|la|dīvus]], the title of deified emperors.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|zeu]], [[it|dio]], [[oc|dieu]], [[ca|déu]], [[es|dios]] and [[pt|deus]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the Strasbourg Oaths (842): ''Pro Deo amur'' “for the love of God”, and ''in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat'' “in so far as God gives me knowledge and power”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Found in the very first French text for the God of Christianity, the word has also named a god of polytheism since the 12th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It is used as an exclamation (''Deus !'', about 1100) and in countless oaths, many of them disguised to avoid blasphemy: ''tudieu'' (1537), ''corbleu'' and ''morbleu'' (1612), ''parbleu'' (about 1650) and ''sacrebleu'' (1808).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Dieu merci'' comes from the older ''par la merci Dieu'' “by the grace of God”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''C'est son dieu'', of a person or thing one idolizes, dates from 1606.^(TLFi) The sailors' ''à Dieu vat'' (1684), a wish for a safe voyage, became “come what may” in the 19th century.^(DHLF 1992) [[adieu]] dates from the 12th century and [[demi-dieu]] from 1488.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the French of francophone Muslims ''Dieu est grand'' renders Arabic ''allahu akbar''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Deo'' and ''Deus'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Deus !'' as an exclamation, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 12th century – A god of polytheism, ''adieu''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1488 – ''Demi-dieu''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1537 – ''Tudieu''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1606 – ''C'est son dieu'' in Nicot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1612 – ''Morbleu'' and ''corbleu''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1684 – ''À Dieu vat'' at sea.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1881 – ''Bondieuserie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Dieu'': [[m|en|God]], the supreme being of monotheism.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|god]], a deity of polytheism: ''les dieux de l'Olympe''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A person or thing one idolizes: ''L'argent est son dieu.''^(TLFi)

+ # In exclamations: ''mon Dieu !'', ''grand Dieu !'', ''Dieu merci'', thank God.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Le bon Dieu'': God, ''il n'y a pas de bon Dieu'', it's bound to happen.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[adieu]]

+ * [[bondieusard]]

+ * [[bondieuserie]]

+ * [[demi-dieu]]

+ * [[corbleu]]

+ * [[morbleu]]

+ * [[parbleu]]

+ * [[palsambleu]]

+ * [[sacrebleu]]

+ * [[tudieu]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[divin]]

+ * [[déesse]]

+ * [[la|deus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}