cas French · revision 16413

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1220, Gautier de Coinci|origins=la cadō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /kɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ ''Quas'' (about 1220), then ''cas'' (1300); the grammatical term was first written ''case''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|cāsus|t=fall; chance, event; misfortune; grammatical case]], the noun of [[m|la|cadō|t=to fall]] (see [[choir]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 480a)^(Wiktionary) Properly “a falling”, the Latin word meant death by euphemism and “what happens, chance”, often with an unfavourable sense, “mishap”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The grammatical “cas” (13th century) is the same Latin word in its grammatical use, a calque of [[grc|πτῶσις|tr=ptôsis|t=fall]], a form “falling away” from the nominative, hence an ending.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''quas'' about 1220 in Gautier de Coinci's ''Miracles de Notre-Dame'', meaning a circumstance.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle French the word entered phrases still used today: ''en tout cas'' (before 1404) and ''en aucun cas'' (1545).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Par cas'' “by chance” (1300) gave way to ''par hasard'', and ''au cas où'' (1890) ousted ''au cas que'' (before 1404) and ''en cas que'' (1354), the latter continued in ''en cas de''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The unfavourable Latin sense lives on in its most common complements (''en cas de malheur'') and in ''cas'' “mishap” (1531).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ''Faire cas de'' “to value” dates from 1537; the word is also used of a case in law and medicine, and in Quebec ''en tout cas'', said quickly, is used as a mere filler, like English ''anyway''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1220 – ''Quas'' in Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – The grammatical case.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1300 – ''Par cas'' “by chance”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1354 – ''En cas que''.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1404 – ''En tout cas'' and ''au cas que'', in Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1537 – ''Faire cas de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1890 – ''Au cas où''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|case]], an instance, a situation: ''dans ce cas'', ''un cas particulier'', ''le cas échéant''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''En tout cas'': in any case, ''en aucun cas'': under no circumstances, ''au cas où'': in case.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A legal or medical case, ''(familiar)'' a strange person: ''c'est un cas !'', ''cas social''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Faire cas de'': to think highly of, take into account.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(grammar)'' A case: ''les cas du latin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[en-cas]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[choir]]

+ * [[casuel]]

+ * [[occasion]]

+ * [[la|cāsus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cas'' is invariable: ''un cas'', ''des cas''.^(Wiktionary) A rare adjective ''cas'' “broken, hollow-sounding” (Littré's ''cas'' 2) comes from Latin ''cassus'' or ''quassus''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}