roi French · revision 16491

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 880, Séquence de sainte Eulalie (rex)|origins=la rēx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁwa/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /χwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''roi''' ''m'' (plural rois, feminine reine)^(Wiktionary)

+ First the Latin form ''rex'' (about 880), then Old French [[m|fro|rei]] (about 980) and ''roi'' (about 1160); the spelling ''roy'', from the 13th century, was common in the 17th.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|rei]], [[inh|la|rēx|t=king; ruler, Jupiter]], from the accusative “rēgem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|10, 366b) Rey places the Latin word among the Indo-European terms of politics and religion found at both ends of the Indo-European area: [[sa|राज्|tr=rāj-]] in compounds, “rā́jan-” “king” (compare [[rajah]]), [[sga|rí]] and Gaulish “-rix” (Vercingetorix), whence the Germanic adjective behind [[riche]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) “Rēx” is naturally connected with [[m|la|regō|t=to guide, direct, rule]] (compare [[régir]]); Benveniste saw in it the priest who traced the line between the sacred and the profane.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|rege]], [[it|re]], [[oc|rei]], [[ca|rei]], [[es|rey]] and [[pt|rei]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia'' (about 880) the emperor Maximian is ''rex'', a ruler over the pagans; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''Charles li reis, nostre emperere magne''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the earliest texts it was also used of Christ (late 10th century) and God (''reis de majesté'', about 1145).^(TLFi) The Epiphany is the ''feste des trois Roys'' (1324), whence the ''galette des rois'' and Rabelais' finding the bean in the ''gasteau des Roys'' (1533); ''le roi boit!'' is the cry when the bean-king drinks (1579).^(TLFi)^(BHVF) In games it is the chess king (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176) and the card king (Molière, 1661; earlier in 1571).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ Figuratively it is a person with every comfort (''Roman de Renart'', 1175–80) and the best in a field: the king of minstrels (about 1245), ''roi des ribauds'' (1269–78).^(TLFi) ''Bleu de roi'' dates from 1690, and the proverb ''le roi n'est pas son cousin'' from 1595.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 880 – ''Rex'', ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 980 – ''Rei''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Roi''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1176 – The chess king, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1324 – ''Feste des trois Roys''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1606 – ''Roy Très-chrestien'', title of the kings of France, in Nicot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1661 – The card king, Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Bleu de roi''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|king]], monarch: ''le roi de France'', ''vivre en roi''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chess, cards)'' The king.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # The greatest in a field: ''le roi des animaux'' (the lion).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Les Rois'': the Epiphany (''la fête des Rois''), when the ''galette des rois'' is eaten.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(religion)'' ''Le Roi des rois'': God or Christ.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[royaume]]

+ * [[royauté]]

+ * [[royal]]

+ * [[roitelet]]

+ * [[vice-roi]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[régalien]]

+ * [[reine]]

+ * [[régir]]

+ * [[riche]]

+ * [[la|rēx]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Heureux comme un roi'' means very happy, ''au royaume des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois'': in the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}