gris French · revision 16560

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1140, Gaimar (noun, grey fur); c. 1150, Roman de Thèbes (adjective)|origins=frk *grīs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡʁi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gris''' (feminine grise, masculine plural gris, feminine plural grises)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frk|*grīs|t=grey]], restored from [[osx|grīs|t=grey-haired]], [[nl|grijs]] and [[ang|grǣg]], and also seen in [[de|Greis|t=old man]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|16, 80b) Wiktionary traces it to [[gem-pro|*grīsaz]].^(Wiktionary) Medieval Latin had “griseus” from the 9th century, and Littré rejected Génin's derivation from “grec”.^(Littré 1873) “Faire grise mine” is borrowed from Old Occitan “faire cara grisa”.^(TLFi)

+

+ Compare [[pro|gris]], [[es|gris]], [[pt|gris]] and [[it|grigio]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Gaimar (1140) uses ''gris'' as a noun for the fur of the squirrel later called ''petit-gris''; the adjective is first used of a grey beard in the ''Roman de Thèbes'' (about 1150) and of a garment about 1165.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From hair and beards, with the idea of age, its use soon widened.^(DHLF 1992) The noun named a coarse grey cloth (1270), and ''vestu de gris'' is in Charles d'Orléans; grey weather is in Robert Estienne (1549), ''papier gris'' in 1609 and ''vin gris'', a pale wine, in 1690.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Faire grise mine'' “to give a cool welcome” dates from 1460–66, and ''de nuit tous chats sont gris'' from 1640.^(TLFi) Figuratively it came to mean dull, colourless (17th century), and ''matière grise'' (''substance grise'', 1824) the brain.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ Of a person, ''gris'' “tipsy” is recorded by Furetière (1690), probably because things look grey and blurred to the slightly drunk; it gave [[griser]] (1718) and [[dégriser]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1140 – Grey fur, Gaimar.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – A grey beard, ''Roman de Thèbes''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1270 – Grey cloth.^(TLFi)

+ * 1460–66 – ''Faire grise mine''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – Grey weather.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''De nuit tous chats sont gris''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – “Tipsy”, ''vin gris''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1824 – ''Substance grise''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|grey]]: ''un costume gris'', ''gris souris'', ''gris perle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Grey-haired: ''cheveux gris'', ''barbe grise''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of the weather, overcast, dull: ''un ciel gris'', ''il fait gris''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Dull, dreary: ''une vie grise''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(dated, familiar)'' Tipsy.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In phrases: ''faire grise mine'', ''éminence grise'', ''matière grise''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour grey: ''s'habiller en gris''.^(Larousse)

+ # A grey wine, rosé: ''un gris de Toul''.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[grisâtre]]

+ * [[griser]]

+ * [[dégriser]]

+ * [[griserie]]

+ * [[grisaille]]

+ * [[grisette]]

+ * [[grisonner]]

+ * [[petit-gris]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[frk|*grīs]]

+ * [[en|grizzly]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}