vert French · revision 16510

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la vireō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

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

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /væ(r)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vert''' (feminine verte, masculine plural verts, feminine plural vertes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French masculine ''vert'' or ''verd'', feminine ''vert'' (until the 16th century) and ''verte''; the Académie wrote ''verd'' until 1740.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|vert]], [[inh|la|viridis|t=green; fresh, vigorous]], through [[la-lat|virdis]], from [[m|la|vireō|t=to be green]], a word of unknown origin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 507a) Wiktionary explains the Old French /t/ as regular final devoicing, kept when the feminine took “-e” in Middle French.^(Wiktionary) A form “verde”, supported by the derivatives, coexisted in the Middle Ages and survives in many northern, eastern and south-eastern dialects.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|verde]], [[es|verde]], [[pt|verde]], [[ca|verd]] and [[ro|verde]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it names the colour: ''sur l'herbe verte'', “on the green grass”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As in Latin it was used of unripe grain and fruit (about 1185, ''verdes feves''), and of wood still full of sap (1260), whence ''volée de bois vert'' (1784).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The vigour of plants gave senses such as “young, sprightly” (late 13th century), ''verte vieillesse'' (1532–46) and ''vert galant'' (1550); ''en dire des vertes et des pas mûres'' goes back to Old French ''vertes et meures''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 15th century it meant fiery, harsh (''un vert debat''), and, from 1857 risqué, the sense of ''langue verte'' “slang”.^(TLFi) ''Prendre sans vert'' (1546) recalls a May game in which one had to wear a green leaf.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The 20th century made it the colour of “go” on traffic lights (1931) and of the countryside and ecology: ''espace vert'' (1954), ''Europe verte'' (1964), ''les Verts'' (1978).^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Herbe verte'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1185 – “Unripe”, ''Aliscans''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1260 – Of fresh-cut wood.^(TLFi)

+ * 1546 – ''Verte vieillesse'', ''prendre sans vert'', Rabelais.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1550 – ''Vert galant''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1857 – “Risqué”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1931 – ''Le vert'' of traffic lights.^(BHVF)

+ * 1978 – ''Les Verts'', the ecologists.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|green]]: ''l'herbe verte'', ''feu vert''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Unripe: ''des fruits verts''; of wood, green, not seasoned.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of a person, pale, livid: ''vert de peur'', ''vert de rage''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of an old person, still vigorous, hale: ''une verte vieillesse''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Sharp, harsh: ''une verte réprimande''; risqué: ''en dire des vertes et des pas mûres''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Green, environmental, ecological: ''énergie verte'', ''le parti vert''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # Rural, of the countryside: ''tourisme vert'', ''classe verte''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour green; a green traffic light: ''passer au vert''.^(Larousse)^(BHVF)

+ # ''Se mettre au vert'': to take a rest in the country.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Les Verts'': the Greens, the ecologist party.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[verdâtre]]

+ * [[verdelet]]

+ * [[verdeur]]

+ * [[verdir]]

+ * [[reverdir]]

+ * [[verdoyer]]

+ * [[verdure]]

+ * [[verdier]]

+ * [[vert-de-gris]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verger]]

+ * [[verjus]]

+ * [[la|viridis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}