exemple French · revision 16531

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (esample)|origins=la emō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛɡ.zɑ̃pl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''exemple''' ''m'' (plural exemples)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''esample'', ''essemple'', ''essample'' (often feminine), relatinized as ''exemple'' in the 12th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|exemplum|t=sample; copy; model, example]], first in the half-popular form “esample”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 291a) Bloch and Wartburg think the Old French feminine may come from the neuter plural “exempla”; the feminine survived until the 19th century in ''une exemple d'écriture“, a copybook model.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Rey derives ”exemplum'', “something set apart as a model”, from [[m|la|eximō|t=to take out, remove]], of the family of [[m|la|emō|t=to take; to buy]], Littré thought the derivation difficult.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary says the borrowing displaced Old French “essainple”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (mid-11th century) ''esample'' is news, a rumour: ''est vus l'esample par trestut le païs''; in the ''Chanson de Roland'' it is a story from which a moral lesson is drawn.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ These first senses did not last.^(DHLF 1992) About 1119 it was a fact supporting an assertion, about 1160 a lesson drawn from a situation, and in Marie de France (1180) a didactic tale.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A person worth imitating is found at the end of the 12th century (''forme et examples de vie''), and a punishment meant as a warning in Froissart (1381), whence ''faire un exemple'' and ''pour l'exemple''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Pour exemple'' “to illustrate” is in Montaigne (1580), and ''par exemple'' in Furetière (1690); the exclamation ''par exemple !'' expressing surprise arose by irony (1627).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A sentence cited to illustrate the use of a word is an ''exemple'' from 1653.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Esample'' “news”, ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – A moral tale, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1119 – A fact supporting a claim, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – A lesson, ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The masculine ''exemple'', Gautier d'Arras.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1381 – An exemplary punishment, Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Pour exemple'', Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1627 – The exclamation ''par exemple !''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1653 – A grammatical example.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – ''Par exemple'', Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|example]], model to be imitated: ''donner l'exemple'', ''suivre l'exemple de quelqu'un'', ''prendre exemple sur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A person held up as a model.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # A warning, a punishment meant to deter: ''faire un exemple'', ''que cela vous serve d'exemple''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A case, an instance that illustrates something: ''citer un exemple'', ''sans exemple'', unprecedented.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A sentence or quotation illustrating a word or rule in a dictionary or grammar.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Par exemple'': for example, ''(familiar)'' ''par exemple !'', expressing surprise.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[exemplifier]]

+ * [[exemplification]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exemplaire]]

+ * [[exempt]]

+ * [[la|exemplum]]

+ * [[en|example]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}