voisin French · revision 16542

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1140, Gaimar (veisin)|origins=la vīcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vwa.zɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''voisin''' (feminine voisine, masculine plural voisins, feminine plural voisines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''veisin'' (about 1138), ''voisin'' from about 1180.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|veisin]], [[inh|la-vul|*vēcīnus]], a dialectal (Osco-Umbrian) or dissimilated form of [[la|vīcīnus|t=near, neighbouring; a neighbour]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|14, 414b) “Vīcīnus” is derived from [[m|la|vīcus|t=district of a town; village]], which Rey relates, like [[m|la|vīlla]], to an Indo-European root “*weik-” “household, clan”, also seen in [[grc|οἶκος|tr=oîkos|t=house]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|vecin]], [[it|vicino]], [[pro|vezin]], [[es|vecino]] and [[pt|vizinho]].^(REW 1935)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Gaimar's ''Estoire des Engleis'' (about 1140) has ''veisin'' for one who lives near another.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Mauvais voisin'' is found in the 12th century (''Roncevaux''), and the proverb ''qui a felon voisin Par maintes feiz en a mavez matin'' in the 13th.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) As an adjective it meant nearby (Wace, 1160–74), with ''voisin de'' from 1291.^(TLFi) In the plural it named the people of a neighbouring country (Joinville, 1306) and, by extension, the country itself.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A person next to one in a given situation is a ''voisin'' in 1585, and ''autrui'', one's fellow man, in 1678.^(TLFi) Montaigne (1580) used ''voisin'' for things that resemble each other, and for nearness in time (1588); ''en voisin'' “informally” is in Paul-Louis Courier (1824).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1140 – ''Veisin'', Gaimar.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160–74 – Adjective “nearby”, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – The form ''voisin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Voisiner''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1240 – ''Voisinage''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1306 – A neighbouring people, Joinville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “Similar”, Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1824 – ''En voisin''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Neighbouring, nearby, adjacent: ''la pièce voisine'', ''les pays voisins'', ''voisin de'', near.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Similar, related: ''des espèces voisines'', ''des idées voisines''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Close in time: ''les années voisines de 1789''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|neighbour]]: ''mon voisin de palier'', ''nos voisins'', the people next door or of the next country.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The person beside one: ''mon voisin de table''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' One's fellow man.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[voisinage]]

+ * [[voisiner]]

+ * [[avoisiner]]

+ * [[avoisinant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vicinal]]

+ * [[la|vīcīnus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}