enfer French · revision 16651

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (enfern)|origins=la īnfernus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.fɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''enfer''' ''m'' (plural enfers)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''enfern'' (late 10th century), ''enfer'' (about 1100), ''infer'' (about 1220); plural ''les enfers'' from the 12th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-ecc|īnfernus|t=hell]], also [[m|la-ecc|īnfernum]], the Christian Latin noun formed from the classical adjective [[m|la|īnfernus|t=lower, of the regions below]], a doublet of [[m|la|īnferus]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 666a)^(Wiktionary) Pagan Latin used neuter and masculine plurals of the adjective for “the lower places” and “the gods below”, whence the plural “les enfers” for the underworld of antiquity.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) The TLFi describes the word as taken from Christian Latin.^(TLFi) Rey calls the adjective a word of dialect origin.^(DHLF 1992) The Latin word passed to [[eu|infernu]] and [[br|ifern]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|inferno]], [[oc|enfern]], [[ca|infern]], [[es|infierno]] and [[pt|inferno]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Clermont ''Passion'' (late 10th century) has ''enfern'' for the place where the damned are punished.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''L'enchanteür qui ja fut en enfer''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century the plural ''enfers'' is the abode of the dead in Judaeo-Christian language (''Psautier d'Oxford''), and Chrétien de Troyes (about 1165) uses ''anfer'' for the underworld of ancient myth, which from the Renaissance (1538) is usually plural.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Guillaume de Lorris (about 1245) uses it figuratively for torment: ''Comment hons… Puet vivre un mois en tel enfer''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Like ''diable'', it is a key word of popular Christianity, with many phrases and proverbs, such as ''l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Feu d'enfer'' “raging fire” dates from 1802, also of gunfire (1835), and ''jouer un jeu d'enfer'' “to play hard and for high stakes” from 1801; familiar ''d'enfer'' now also means “terrific”.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007) Since 1870 l'Enfer has also been the locked section of a library for books thought licentious.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Enfern'', Clermont ''Passion''.^(TLFi)

+ * First half of the 12th century – ''Les enfers'', ''Psautier d'Oxford''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The underworld of myth, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1245 – “Torment”, Guillaume de Lorris.^(TLFi)

+ * 1801 – ''Jouer un jeu d'enfer''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1802 – ''Feu d'enfer''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hell]], the place of the damned: ''aller en enfer'', ''l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural, mythology)'' The underworld: ''descendre aux enfers''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A place or situation of great suffering: ''vivre un enfer'', ''c'est l'enfer''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''D'enfer'': infernal, violent, excessive: ''un feu, un bruit, un train d'enfer'', ''(familiar)'' terrific: ''un plan d'enfer''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''L'Enfer'': the restricted section of a library.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[infernal]]

+ * [[inférieur]]

+ * [[infime]]

+ * [[la|īnfernus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}