immense French · revision 16717

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1360|origins=la mētior}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i(m).mɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''immense''' (plural immenses)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|immēnsus|t=boundless, infinite]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 571b)^(Wiktionary) formed from the negative prefix [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|mēnsus|t=measured]], the past participle of [[m|la|mētior|t=to measure]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) a verb belonging with an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]] (see [[mesurer]], [[mètre]]).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A marriage contract of 1360 uses it in the sense “total, unreserved”, in ''donation immense'', a use now gone.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Villon (before 1453) has it for what is boundless or hard to measure, and, from there it came to mean “of considerable extent” and “considerable in size or quantity”, of concrete and abstract things; weakened, it now often means simply “very large”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Latin sense “infinite” (''Dieu est immense'') was used from the 16th century, and in the 19th century the word was applied to a person of very great gifts; both uses have disappeared.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ The adverb [[immensément]] dates from the early 18th century (Saint-Simon), and [[immensité]], borrowed from [[la|immēnsitās]], from 1374.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1360 – “Total, unreserved”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1374 – ''Immansité''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Before 1453 – “Boundless, vast”, Villon.^(TLFi)

+ * 16th century – “Infinite”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Early 18th century – [[immensément]], Saint-Simon.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(formal)'' Boundless, [[m|en|infinite]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Of very great extent; [[m|en|vast]], [[m|en|huge]]: ''la mer immense''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Very great in its kind, in strength, importance or quantity: ''une foule immense'', ''un immense succès''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[immensément]]

+ * [[immensité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mesurer]]

+ * [[mesure]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}