bras French · revision 16396

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1080, Chanson de Roland|origins=grc βραχίων}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʁa/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /bʁɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada, France, Northern): [bʁɑ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada, France, Northern): [bʁɔ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bras''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''braz'' (1080); the subject case was ''bras'', the object case ''brac''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|bras]], [[inh|la|bracchium|t=arm]], also written “brachium”, through a popular [[m|la-vul|*bracium]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|1, 485b)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word was borrowed from [[grc|βραχίων|tr=brakhíōn|t=upper arm]], probably a substantivized comparative of [[m|grc|βραχύς|tr=brakhús|t=short]], as the Latin grammarian Festus already explained.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In Latin it also named an animal's leg or claw, a branch and an inlet of the sea, and Church Latin used it as a symbol of strength.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary notes that it displaced an Old French feminine “brace” of the same origin.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|braccio]], [[oc|brac]], [[ca|braç]], [[es|brazo]], [[pt|braço]] and [[ro|braț]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''braz'' in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (1080), meaning the human arm.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 12th century, as in Latin, ''bras'' named an arm of the sea or of a river (about 1165) and parts of objects that stick out like arms.^(DHLF 1992) Phrases were gathered in Middle French and above all from the 17th century: ''a brache de corps'' (1465), whence ''à bras-le-corps'' (1784); ''à tour de bras'' (1587); ''à bras ouverts'' (1606); ''gros comme le bras'' (1660); ''bras dessus bras dessous'' (1693).^(DHLF 1992) The arm as a symbol of power gave ''le bras séculier'' and ''le bras droit de quelqu'un'' “his right-hand man”, and ''les bras'' came to mean workers, labour (''manquer de bras'').^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1080 – ''Braz'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1080 – ''Embrasser'' “to take in one's arms”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1165 – An arm of the sea or of a river.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1291 – ''Avant-bras''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1587 – ''À tour de bras''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1606 – ''À bras ouverts''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1693 – ''Bras dessus bras dessous''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1784 – ''À bras-le-corps''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|arm]], the upper limb from the shoulder to the hand; in anatomy, the part between shoulder and [[m|en|elbow]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Power, help; a worker: ''le bras séculier'', ''manquer de bras'', ''bras droit'', a right-hand man.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Something shaped like an arm: the arm of a chair, of a lever, of a crane.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Bras de mer'': an arm of the sea; a branch of a river.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Phrases: ''à bras ouverts'', ''bras dessus bras dessous'', ''à bras-le-corps'', ''les bras m'en tombent''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bracelet]]

+ * [[brassard]]

+ * [[brassée]]

+ * [[brassière]]

+ * [[embrasser]]

+ * [[avant-bras]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[brasse]]

+ * [[brachial]]

+ * [[la|bracchium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Bras'' is invariable: ''un bras'', ''des bras''.^(Wiktionary) In the Middle Ages the verb [[embrasser]] meant “to take in one's arms”; its modern sense “to kiss” dates from the 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}