lumière French · revision 16431

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (mouth of a horn)|origins=la lūmen}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ly.mjɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lumière''' ''f'' (plural lumières)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|lūmināria]], the neuter plural of [[m|la|lūmināre|t=lamp, light; window]], derived from [[m|la|lūmen|t=light]], taken as a feminine singular.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 444b)^(Wiktionary) In Church Latin “luminaria” meant lamps, torches and the heavenly bodies, then “illumination”, and in popular Latin it displaced both classical words for light, [[m|la|lūx]] and “lūmen”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) “Lūmen” goes back to the root “*leuk-” “to shine”, which also gave [[luire]] and [[lucide]].^(DHLF 1992) Old French also had “lum”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) It is a doublet of [[luminaire]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[oc|lumeira]], [[es|lumbrera]] and [[it|lumiera]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Grand Robert records it first in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) for the mouth of a horn; in the sense “light, daylight” it is in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Cligès'' (1176).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the first half of the 12th century it was said of God (Cambridge Psalter), and in the 13th century it meant the eyesight and, figuratively, lucidity.^(TLFi) A wax candle was ''lumiere de cire'' in the early 13th century, and a lamp or torch in 1260.^(TLFi) From about 1400 it was said of an eminent person, and in 1637 (Corneille) of enlightenment, knowledge, ''les lumières'' of a person, their understanding, is Molière's (1665), and Voltaire speaks of ''les lumières d'un siècle éclairé'' (1761), whence ''le siècle des Lumières''.^(TLFi) Technical uses include the eye-slit of a helmet (about 1228) and the touch-hole of a gun (1475).^(TLFi) In Quebec ''les lumières'' are also traffic lights and headlights.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – The mouth of a horn, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1176 – “Light, daylight”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – “Eyesight”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1260 – A lamp, in Étienne Boileau.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1400 – An eminent person, in Eustache Deschamps.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Mettre en lumière'' “to publish”.^(BHVF)

+ * 1665 – ''Les lumières'' “knowledge”, in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1761 – ''Les lumières d'un siècle éclairé'', in Voltaire.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|light]]: ''la lumière du jour'', ''la vitesse de la lumière''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A source of light, a lamp: ''allumer la lumière''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Enlightenment, insight: ''faire la lumière sur'', ''à la lumière de''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Les Lumières'': the [[m|en|Enlightenment]], ''les lumières de quelqu'un'': their knowledge.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A brilliant person: ''ce n'est pas une lumière''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(technical)'' An opening, as the touch-hole of a gun, ''(anatomy)'' a [[m|en|lumen]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Quebec, informal)'' Traffic lights; headlights.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[luminaire]]

+ * [[lumineux]]

+ * [[luire]]

+ * [[lucide]]

+ * [[la|lūmen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}