prince French · revision 16555

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Psautier d'Oxford|origins=la prīnceps}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁɛ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''prince''' ''m'' (plural princes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|prīnceps|t=first; chief; emperor]], formed from [[m|la|prīmus|t=first]] and [[m|la|capiō|t=to take]]: “he who takes the first place”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|9, 389b) “Prīnceps senātūs” was the first member of the Senate, and, from Augustus, who held that title and gathered all power in his hands, “prīnceps” meant the emperor.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary calls the French word a semi-learned borrowing.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[pro|princep]], [[es|príncipe]] and [[it|principe]].^(Littré 1873)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it for one who holds sovereignty, and for the leading person of a group.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It applied first to sovereigns in the feudal order, then to the ruler in general (Christine de Pisan, 1413), as in ''parole de prince'' (1407), ''jeu de prince'' (1566) and ''le fait du prince'' (1869), arbitrary power.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A member of a ruling family is a ''prince'' about 1120: ''prince du sang'' (1578), ''prince royal'' (1524), ''prince impérial'' (1802), ''prince de Galles'' (about 1360).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In the French nobility it is the highest title.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

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+ The Devil is ''prince de mort'' (1121–34), ''prince de ce monde'' (1553) and ''prince des ténèbres'' (1690); the Jewish high priest is ''prince des prêtres'' (mid-13th century).^(TLFi) ''En prince'' “magnificently” is in Robert Estienne (1538), and ''être bon prince'' “to be generous” in Dancourt (1690); the ''prince des poètes'' is the first of them.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – A sovereign, Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * 1121–34 – ''Prince de mort'', the Devil.^(TLFi)

+ * 1320 – ''Princesse''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1360 – ''Prince de Galles''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1413 – The ruler, Christine de Pisan.^(TLFi)

+ * 1578 – ''Prince du sang''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Être bon prince''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1802 – ''Prince impérial''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|prince]], a sovereign ruler: ''le Prince'' of Machiavelli, ''le fait du prince'', an arbitrary act of authority.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A member of a royal family: ''prince héritier'', ''prince du sang'', ''le prince de Galles''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # In France, the highest title of nobility.^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The first, the greatest: ''le prince des poètes'', ''les princes de l'Église'', the cardinals and bishops.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Être bon prince'': to be generous, easy-going, ''vivre comme un prince''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[princesse]]

+ * [[princier]]

+ * [[principauté]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[principal]]

+ * [[principe]]

+ * [[premier]]

+ * [[la|prīnceps]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}