faim French · revision 16562

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-11th century, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la famēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''faim''' ''f'' (plural faims)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''fain'', ''faim''.^(Wiktionary)^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|famēs|t=hunger; violent desire]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 406a) Rey notes that “famēs” has no correspondent outside Latin, the words for hunger and thirst varying from one Indo-European language to another; the Petit Robert calls it of obscure origin.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|foame]], [[it|fame]], [[oc|fam]], [[ca|fam]], [[es|hambre]] and [[pt|fome]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (mid-11th century) it is the need to eat.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “desire, longing for” is found about 1200 in the First Continuation of ''Perceval'': ''n'ont si grant fain De riens con de veoir Gauvain''.^(TLFi) In Old French this sense competed with [[talent]], still used in the dialects of Languedoc.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Beaumanoir writes ''se aucuns a faim de savoir''.^(Littré 1873) In the 16th and 17th centuries ''avoir faim de'' could even mean any urge, as Oudin noted (1640).^(BHVF) Compounds include ''meurt-de-faim'' (1690, ''mort-de-faim'', 1604), ''crève-la-faim'' (1870) and ''coupe-faim'', ''faim-valle'', a ravenous hunger (about 1150), gave [[fringale]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-11th century – ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – ''Fainvale''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1155 – ''Famine''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1200 – “Desire, longing”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''Faim'' for any urge, Oudin.^(BHVF)

+ * 1690 – ''Meurt-de-faim''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1870 – ''Crève-la-faim''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hunger]]: ''avoir faim'', ''une faim de loup'', ''mourir de faim'', ''rester sur sa faim''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hunger as want of food in a population: ''la faim dans le monde'', ''grève de la faim''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A craving, longing: ''avoir faim de tendresse''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[affamer]]

+ * [[affamé]]

+ * [[famine]]

+ * [[coupe-faim]]

+ * [[crève-la-faim]]

+ * [[meurt-de-faim]]

+ * [[faim-valle]]

+ * [[fringale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[famélique]]

+ * [[la|famēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}