lourd French · revision 16520

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1160, Roman de Tristan (lort)|origins=la lūridus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /luʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lourd''' (feminine lourde, masculine plural lourds, feminine plural lourdes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''lort'', ''lorz'' (about 1160–65), ''lourt'' (about 1330), ''lourd'' from the 13th century.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[inh|fro|lort]], [[inh|la-lat|lurdus]], an alteration of [[m|la|lūridus|t=sallow, wan, lurid]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|5, 465b) The popular form “lurdus” is attested in the glosses of Rabanus Maurus, translated “fûl” “rotten”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The development of sense is difficult, since the physical sense “heavy” came late: Bloch and Wartburg pass from “wan” to “giddy”, the sense of dialect “lourd” “having the staggers” (of sheep), and, from there to “dull, stupid”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) The FEW rejects that chain on chronological grounds, Pierre Guiraud proposed instead “*luridus” “swollen like a wineskin”, from [[m|la|lūra|t=wineskin]], which raises problems of form.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Wiktionary allows the influence of Frankish “*lort” “clumsy”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[it|lordo|t=dirty]] and [[pro|lort|t=foolish]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165) ''lorz'' means dazed, oafish; about 1170 Béroul's ''Tristan'' has ''lort'' “foolish, stupid”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its early senses concern people: stupid (12th century), coarse, boorish (about 1330), clumsy (15th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1275 Jean de Meun uses it for “heavy, massive”, but the physical sense “weighty” became common only in the 16th century (1554), when it supplanted [[grave]] in that sense.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Figurative uses followed: a heavy burden (1388–89), heavy sleep (1573), ''lourde faute'' (1559), heavy, sultry weather (1810), a heavy style.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The 19th and 20th centuries added ''artillerie lourde'' (1863), ''poids lourd'' (1910), ''eau lourde'' and ''industrie lourde''; in recent slang ''lourd'' means tiresome, and the back-slang [[relou]] comes from it.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1160 – ''Lort'', ''Roman de Tristan''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1275 – “Heavy, massive”, Jean de Meun.^(TLFi)

+ * 1306 – ''Lourdeau'', later ''lourdaud''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1554 – Of weight, Thevet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – ''Lourde faute'', Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1810 – “Oppressive”, Madame de Staël.^(TLFi)

+ * 1863 – ''Artillerie lourde''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|heavy]]: ''une valise lourde'', ''poids lourd'', a heavy goods vehicle.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Heavy, ponderous; clumsy, oafish: ''une démarche lourde'', ''un esprit lourd''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Serious, grave: ''une lourde responsabilité'', ''une lourde faute''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of the weather, [[m|en|sultry]], close: ''il fait lourd''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # Heavy-handed, lacking subtlety: ''une plaisanterie lourde'', ''un style lourd''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Lourd de'': fraught with: ''lourd de conséquences''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Tiresome, a drag.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''Peser lourd'': to weigh a lot, ''(familiar)'' ''pas lourd'', not much: ''il n'en fait pas lourd''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lourdaud]]

+ * [[lourdement]]

+ * [[lourdeur]]

+ * [[lourdingue]]

+ * [[alourdir]]

+ * [[alourdissement]]

+ * [[relou]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pesant]]

+ * [[balourd]]

+ * [[la|lūridus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}