message French · revision 16601

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛ.saʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /me.saʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''message''' ''m'' (plural messages)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed with the suffix [[-age]] on Old French [[m|fro|mes|t=envoy, messenger]] (“meis”, late 10th century), from [[la-lat|missus|t=one sent]], the past participle of [[la|mittō|t=to send]] used as a noun (see [[mettre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/2, 184a) Compare [[la-med|missāticum|t=errand, commission]] (845).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary has it inherited from that Medieval Latin word.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ [[it|messaggio]] and [[es|mensaje]] come from Gallo-Romance; [[en|message]] was borrowed from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) the father, hearing what the letter says, cries ''E! filz, cum dolerus message!'' “Oh son, what a sorrowful message!”: the content of a communication.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) ''faire un message'' is to deliver a message, and ''message'' also meant the messenger himself, until the 16th century, whence the early derivative [[messager]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wace (1155) uses it for a mission or embassy, a sense since lost.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the early 13th century it is a revelation brought by an inspired messenger, and today, more broadly, the lesson of a work or a person.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ After English ''message'', itself from French, it meant the sovereign's official communication to the English Parliament (1704), then any official communication of the authorities (1823).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 20th century it became a term of information theory, semiotics and biology, and the everyday word for a text or voice message.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Message'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Faire un message''; a messenger, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – A mission, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * early 13th century – A divine message.^(TLFi)

+ * 1704 – The king's message to Parliament.^(TLFi)

+ * 1823 – An official communication.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|message]]: ''laisser un message'', ''message téléphonique'', ''envoyer un message''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An official communication: ''message du président''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The message, lesson (of a work, a teacher): ''le message de l'Évangile''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(information theory, biology)'' A message.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[messagerie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[messager]]

+ * [[mettre]]

+ * [[mission]]

+ * [[en|message]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Old French ''message'' also meant the messenger, Littré gives this use its own entry, from Late Latin ''missaticus'' “one who is sent”.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}