phrase French · revision 16592

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1546, Palmerin d'Olive, translated by Jean Maugin|origins=grc φράζω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fʁaz/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /fʁɑz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''phrase''' ''f'' (plural phrases)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|phrasis|t=diction, style, expression]], itself borrowed from [[grc|φράσις|tr=phrásis|t=speech; expression, diction]], from [[m|grc|φράζω|tr=phrázō|t=to point out, explain, tell]], a verb of unknown origin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|8, 399b) [[en|phrase]] (1530) is of the same origin.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Maugin's translation of ''Palmerin d'Olive'' (1546) uses it for an arrangement of words, a way of speaking, Montaigne has ''frases et vocables''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries the word only meant a turn of phrase, an expression, Littré wrongly cites classical authors for the modern sense.^(DHLF 1992) The pejorative “empty, high-flown talk” (Bouhours, 1671) lives on in ''phrases toutes faites'' (La Bruyère, 1688), ''faire des phrases'' (1729) and ''sans phrases'' “without beating about the bush” (1874).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The grammatical sense, a group of words forming a complete meaning, “sentence”, appears in Father Buffier's grammar (1732) and the ''Encyclopédie'' (1754).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Couperin (1722) used ''phrase'' for a musical phrase.^(TLFi) In politics, a ''petite phrase'' (about 1970) is a pointed remark picked up by the media.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1546 – “Way of speaking”, Maugin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – Empty talk, Bouhours.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1688 – ''Phrases toutes faites'', La Bruyère.^(TLFi)

+ * 1722 – Musical phrase, Couperin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1732 – “Sentence”, Buffier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1755 – The derivative ''phraser''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1788 – ''Phraseur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sentence]]: ''une phrase simple'', ''finir sa phrase''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Faire des phrases'': to speak in a pompous way, ''sans phrases'', bluntly, ''phrase toute faite'', a stock phrase.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(music)'' A [[m|en|phrase]].^(TLFi)

+ # ''(politics)'' ''Petite phrase'': a pointed remark seized on by the media.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[phraser]]

+ * [[phraseur]]

+ * [[phrasé]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[phraséologie]]

+ * [[en|phrase]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Phrase'' is a false friend of English ''phrase'': it usually means “sentence”.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}