malheureux French · revision 16715

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=mid-11th century (maleüros)|origins=la augurium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ma.lœ.ʁø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malheureux''' (feminine malheureuse, masculine plural malheureux, feminine plural malheureuses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''maleüros'' (mid-11th century), ''malëurus'' (1155), ''maleüreus'' (about 1175); ''malheureux'' from the 15th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ Old French also used another form, ''malheuré''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|malheur|-eux]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) or [[mal-]] with [[heureux]], as Littré and Wiktionary analyse it.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) [[malheur]] is [[mal]] and the old noun [[heur|t=luck]], which continues [[la-vul|*agūrium]], an altered form of [[m|la|augurium|t=omen, augury]];^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|25, 890b) as pagan beliefs faded the word came to mean “luck, good or bad”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[pro|malauros]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace's ''Brut'' (1155) says of a person weighed down by misfortune ''Dolenz fud e malëurus'' “he was grieving and unhappy”; the GLLF and the Grand Robert date ''maleüros'' to the mid-11th century.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Chrétien de Troyes's ''Chevalier au lion'' (1176–81) has it as a noun and in the sense “deserving pity”.^(TLFi) In the 15th century (''Perceforest'') it meant “unlucky” of a person and “having an unfortunate outcome” of a thing.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Later senses include “baleful” (Du Bellay, 1558), “regrettable” (Amyot, 1567: ''acte bien malheureux et meschant''), and, by extension, “contemptible”, of a person (Pascal, 1656); the exclamation ''Malheureux !'' is in Racine's ''Bajazet'' (1672).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Furetière (1690) records both “boding ill” (''une malheureuse physionomie'') and “paltry, insignificant” (''un malheureux arpent de pré'').^(TLFi)

+

+ Phrases include ''malheureux comme les pierres'' (Balzac, 1834), ''avoir la main malheureuse'' (1867) and ''amour malheureux'' (Rousseau, 1761);^(GLLF 1989) the ironic ''ce n'est pas malheureux !'' “and about time too!” is found in Henry Monnier (1841).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-11th century – ''Maleüros''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1155 – ''Malëurus'', Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–81 – As a noun, “pitiable”, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – “Unlucky”, ''Perceforest''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1567 – “Regrettable”, Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1656 – “Contemptible”, Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – “Paltry”, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1834 – ''Malheureux comme les pierres'', Balzac.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1841 – ''Ce n'est pas malheureux !''^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|unhappy]], miserable; struck by misfortune: ''rendre quelqu'un malheureux'', ''malheureux comme les pierres''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|unlucky]], unfortunate: ''un candidat malheureux'', ''avoir la main malheureuse''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # Of a thing, having bad consequences; [[m|en|regrettable]]: ''une initiative malheureuse'', ''un amour malheureux''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # (before the noun) Paltry, insignificant: ''un malheureux billet de dix euros''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Ce n'est pas malheureux !'': at last!^(BHVF)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An unhappy or unfortunate person; a poor wretch, ''malheureux !'', you wretch!^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[malheureusement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[malheur]]

+ * [[heureux]]

+ * [[heur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}