lèvre French · revision 16499

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger (lawras)|origins=la labrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɛvʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /laɛ̯vʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lèvre''' ''f'' (plural lèvres)^(Wiktionary)

+ First the plural ''lawras'' (about 980), then [[m|fro|levres]] (late 11th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ An Old and Middle French variant [[m|fro|leffre]], perhaps influenced by [[goh|leffur]], survives in [[balafre]].^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|labra]], the neuter plural of [[m|la|labrum|t=lip; edge, rim]] taken as a feminine singular, because the plural was naturally the more frequent form.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 107b) Rey notes that there is no common Indo-European word for the lip, but compares expressive Germanic words: [[goh|leffur]], [[ang|lippa]] ([[en|lip]]) and [[dum|lippe]] (whence [[lippe]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Spoken Latin used the related “labium” (compare [[labial]]), which gave [[ca|llavi]], [[es|labio]] and [[pt|lábio]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|labbro]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Life of Saint Leger'' (second half of the 10th century) ''lawras'' are the fleshy parts forming the outline of the mouth.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The human lips gave much phraseology: ''du bout des lèvres'' “half-heartedly” (1677), ''avoir sur les lèvres'' “to be on the point of saying” (1538, ''entre les lèvres''; 1635), ''se mordre les lèvres'' (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) By analogy it named the edges of a wound (1314), the labia of the vulva (1680, whence ''grandes'' and ''petites lèvres''), the lips of an animal (1690), the lobes of a labiate flower (1694) and the edges of a shell (1752).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 19th century it was applied to the edges of a fault (Balzac, 1834; in geology, 1877), of a crevasse (1868) and of the mouth of an ancient vase (1840).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 10th century – ''Lawras'', ''Life of Saint Leger''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 11th century – ''Levres''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1314 – The edges of a wound, Henri de Mondeville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1677 – ''Du bout des lèvres''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1680 – The labia, in Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1834 – The edge of a fissure, Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * 1868 – The lip of a crevasse.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lip]]: ''la lèvre supérieure, inférieure'', ''du bout des lèvres'', half-heartedly.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' ''Lèvres'': the [[m|en|labia]]: ''grandes lèvres'', ''petites lèvres''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(medicine)'' The edge of a wound.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(geology)'' The edge of a fault; the lip of a crevasse.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(botany)'' A lobe of the corolla of a labiate flower.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[balèvre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[labial]]

+ * [[lippe]]

+ * [[la|labrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}