mer French · revision 16447

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=ine-pro *móri}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mer''' ''f'' (plural mers)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|mare|t=sea; large basin]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 317a) The Latin neuter became feminine in the 6th century, as also in Romanian and Catalan; this is put down to the influence of [[terre]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935) “Mare” was the ordinary Latin word, beside the poetic “sal” and “aequor” and the Greek loans “pontus” and “pelagus”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The Latin word continues [[ine-pro|*móri]], through [[itc-pro|*mari]];^(Wiktionary) Rey describes it as an old Indo-European stem, known from Slavic to Italic, which probably meant “lagoon” at first.^(DHLF 1992) Related are Gaulish “*mori-”, [[br|mor]], [[non|marr]], [[de|Meer]], [[nl|meer]] and [[en|mere|t=lake, pond]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|mare]], [[ro|mare]], [[oc|mar]], [[ca|mar]], [[es|mar]] and [[pt|mar]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', meaning the sea: ''cum s'en fuït par mer'' (“how he fled by sea”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''Couronnement de Louis'' (about 1135) already names a particular sea, ''La Roge Mer'' “the Red Sea”, and Wace has ''halte mer'' “the open sea” (about 1145) and ''entrer en mer'' “to embark” (about 1155).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Seafaring phrases followed: ''basse mer'' “low tide” (1607), ''prendre la mer'' (1671), ''mettre à la mer'' (1677) and ''un homme à la mer !'' (1831).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) For ''pleine mer'' (1691) the TLFi gives “high tide”, Rey “the sea far from the shore”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''C'est la mer à boire'' “it is an endless task” is in Madame de Sévigné (1672), and its opposite ''ce n'est pas la mer à boire'' is recorded in 1808, ''mer d'huile'' “dead calm” is in Lamartine (1849).^(TLFi)

+

+ By analogy it named a dark patch on the Moon (1740), a great quantity of liquid (1721) and the ''mer de glace'' of an Alpine glacier (1791).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Charles d'Orléans has a figurative ''mer de Desplaisance'' about 1460.^(TLFi) As Latin ''mare'' had named a vessel, ''mer'' was in 1798 a large wine jar refilled as it was drunk.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec ''la mer'' is the broad estuary of the Saint Lawrence below Rivière-du-Loup.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1135 – ''La Roge Mer'' in the ''Couronnement de Louis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1145 – ''Halte mer'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1607 – ''Basse mer'' “low tide”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – ''C'est la mer à boire'' in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – A dark plain on the Moon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1791 – ''Mer de glace''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1808 – ''Ce n'est pas la mer à boire''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1912 – The derivative ''amerrir''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|sea]], the great body of salt water covering most of the globe: ''eau de mer'', ''haute mer''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A part of it with its own name: ''la mer du Nord'', ''la mer Rouge''.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|seaside]]: ''aller à la mer pour les vacances''.^(Larousse)

+ # The [[m|en|tide]]: ''basse mer'', ''pleine mer''.^(TLFi)

+ # A vast expanse or quantity: ''une mer de glace'', ''(literary)'' ''une mer de chagrins''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A dark plain on the Moon, a [[m|en|mare]].^(TLFi)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' The broad lower estuary of the Saint Lawrence.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Ce n'est pas la mer à boire'': it is not that difficult.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[marée]]

+ * [[amerrir]]

+ * [[outre-mer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[marin]]

+ * [[marine]]

+ * [[maritime]]

+ * [[mare]]

+ * [[marais]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mer'' is pronounced like ''mère'' and ''maire''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}