ensemble French · revision 16411

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.sɑ̃bl/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [ɔ̃sɔ̃m]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ensemble'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French also had the adverb ''ensemblement''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|īnsimul|t=at the same time, together]], an imperial Latin strengthening of [[m|la|simul|t=together]], or a popular [[m|la-vul|*insemul]], remade after “semul”, the archaic form of “simul” that survived in spoken Latin, as [[it|insieme]] and Old Spanish “ensiemo” require.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 716a) The French and Occitan forms may come from either.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) “Simul” is the old neuter of [[m|la|similis|t=like]] (see [[sembler]], [[simuler]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Etymonline)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|ensems]] and [[ca|ensems]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' as an adverb, “one with the other”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the sense “at once, at the same time” the adverb became archaic at the end of the 18th century, replaced by ''tout ensemble'' (1552), itself now dated.^(DHLF 1992) In Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and several African countries ''ensemble avec'' is used for “together with”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The noun, first ''un tout-ensemble'' (1664–1668) in the arts for the unity of a work, came to mean the totality of the parts of a whole (1694), whence ''d'ensemble'' (1809, Lamarck) and ''dans l'ensemble''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) It later named a troupe of dancers, singers and musicians, a set of furniture, a group of buildings (''grand ensemble'', about 1954) and, in mathematics, a set (1890, translating German ''Menge'').^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) English borrowed ''ensemble'' as a noun in 1703.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 1552 – ''Tout ensemble''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1668 – ''Tout-ensemble'' in the arts.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1694 – The noun ''ensemble'' “whole”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1703 – English ''ensemble''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – ''D'ensemble'', in Lamarck.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|together]], one with another: ''vivre ensemble'', ''aller ensemble''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # At the same time: ''ne parlez pas tous ensemble''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A whole; the totality of the parts: ''l'ensemble des habitants'', ''dans l'ensemble''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Unity, harmony of action: ''avec ensemble''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A group of musicians or performers; a set of furniture; a group of buildings: ''un grand ensemble''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A [[m|en|set]]: ''théorie des ensembles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ensembliste]]

+ * [[ensemblier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sembler]]

+ * [[simultané]]

+ * [[la|simul]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}