près French · revision 16393

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la premō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''près'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It continues [[inh|la|pressē|t=closely, tightly; concisely]], an adverb formed on [[m|la|pressus|t=pressed, tight]], the past participle of [[m|la|premō|t=to press]] (see [[presser]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|9, 365b) In classical Latin “pressē” meant “tightly”, and of style “concisely”; in imperial and Late Latin it expressed nearness in space and time.^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg and Rey allow that the French word may come either from “pressē” or from an altered [[m|la-vul|*pressō]], the source of Italian “presso”, Wiktionary gives the Vulgar Latin form.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Sardinian “de presse” “in haste” keeps the Latin adverb.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|presso]] and [[oc|pres]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' in the phrase ''près de Rome'' “near Rome”; as an adverb it is in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100): ''Ce sent Rolanz que la mort li est près'' “Roland feels that death is near him”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Nearness in time, ''pres de nuit'', is in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181), and an approximate quantity, ''pres de quinze dis'' “nearly fifteen days”, in the early 13th century.^(TLFi) ''De près'' (1160–1175) often carried an idea of watching closely, as in ''regarder de près'' (1690) and ''ne pas y regarder de si près'' (1671).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Expressions of approximation followed: ''a bien pres'' “almost” (Chrétien), ''à peu près'' (1487), ''à peu de choses près'' (Molière, 1670), ''à cela près'' (Corneille, 1651).^(TLFi) ''Au plus près'' is a sailing term from 1718 (''aller au plus près du vent'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Être près de ses pièces'' “to be short of money” (1694) gave ''être près de ses sous'' “to be stingy” (1935).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Followed directly by a noun, ''près'' is archaic except in law, as in ''expert près le tribunal''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Près de Rome'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – The adverb in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–1181 – Nearness in time, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1487 – ''À peu près''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1651 – ''À cela près'' in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Être près de ses pièces'' in the Académie's dictionary.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Au plus près'' at sea.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|near]], close by, a short distance away: ''il habite tout près''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''De près'': from close up; closely, attentively: ''surveiller de près''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À peu près'': about, roughly, ''à … près'': give or take: ''à un euro près''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''Près de'': near in space or time; nearly, almost: ''près de dix ans''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(formal, law)'' Accredited to: ''expert près le tribunal de commerce''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[auprès]]

+ * [[presque]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[après]]

+ * [[presser]]

+ * [[exprès]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}