soleil French · revision 16419

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (soleilz)|origins=la sōl}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɔ.lɛj/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /so.lɛj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''soleil''' ''m'' (plural soleils)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|solelz]] (about 980), ''soleil'' (1080); also ''soloil'' (about 1175), from another diminutive, and ''souleil'' (1314), still used by d'Aubigné.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ A rare Old French ''sol'', ''soul'' was a Latinism or came from Old Occitan.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|soleil]], [[inh|la-vul|*sōliculus]], a diminutive of [[la|sōl|t=sun]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|12, 24a)^(Wiktionary) Latin “sōl” belongs to an Indo-European family with an “l”/“n” alternation in its inflection, which includes [[grc|ἥλιος|tr=hḗlios]], [[ang|sunne]] and [[goh|sunna]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The diminutive is limited to Gallo-Romance: [[oc|solelh]] and [[ca|solell]]; the other languages kept the simple word, as [[it|sole]], [[es|sol]], [[pt|sol]] and [[ro|soare]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found at the end of the 10th century in the ''Passion'' of Clermont (''li soleilz''), naming the star that gives light and warmth to the earth.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Soleil levant'' is in the ''Chanson de Roland'' and ''soleil couchant'' in Wace (1155).^(TLFi) About 1150–1170 the word meant the light and heat of the sun, whence ''coup de soleil'' (Montaigne, about 1582–1590), ''biens au soleil'' “landed property” (1611) and ''il fait soleil'' (1647).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ The Sun was counted among the planets until the Copernican system was adopted in the 17th century, Fontenelle extended the word to other stars as the centres of planetary systems (1686).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Figuratively it stood for brilliance and prestige (Charles d'Orléans, about 1450–1465) and for a day or a year in poetry (1629, 1690).^(TLFi) It also names the sunflower ([[tournesol]]), a firework and a giant swing on the horizontal bar.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Li soleilz'' in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

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

+ * 1391 – ''Entre deux solaux'' “between sunrise and sunset”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1582 – ''Coup de soleil'' in Montaigne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1611 – ''Biens au soleil'' in Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1686 – Other stars as suns, in Fontenelle.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1798 – ''Le soleil luit pour tout le monde''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1867 – ''Ensoleillé''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|sun]], ''(astronomy, with a capital)'' the Sun.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|sunshine]], the sun's light and heat: ''au soleil'', ''il fait soleil'', ''coup de soleil''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A [[m|en|star]] at the centre of a planetary system.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A [[m|en|sunflower]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # A ''(firework)'' Catherine wheel, ''(gymnastics)'' a giant swing.^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Something radiant or glorious.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ensoleillé]]

+ * [[ensoleiller]]

+ * [[pare-soleil]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[solaire]]

+ * [[solarium]]

+ * [[solstice]]

+ * [[parasol]]

+ * [[tournesol]]

+ * [[la|sōl]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Le Soleil'' is written with a capital in astronomy.^(Wiktionary) ''Rien de nouveau sous le soleil'' echoes Ecclesiastes, and ''le pays du Soleil-Levant'' is Japan.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}