membre French · revision 16759

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la membrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɑ̃bʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''membre''' ''m'' (plural membres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|membrum|t=limb; part of a whole; clause]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|6/1, 689b) a word that in Latin named any part of the body, and so the parts of a whole and the individuals of a group, and that rendered the Greek term for the members of a period in rhetoric.^(DHLF 1992) The TLFi, Rey and Wiktionary all classify the French word as a borrowing from Latin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Rey suggests that the Latin word, like [[grc|μῆνιγξ|tr=mêninx|t=membrane]] (see [[méninge]]), may be related to Indo-European words for “meat, flesh”, such as [[ga|mír|t=piece of meat]].^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[pro|membre]], [[es|miembro]], [[pt|membro]] and [[it|membro]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has it for the parts of the body used to grasp and walk, the arms and legs: ''Puis en perdit et la vie et ses membres''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old and Middle French sometimes used it more widely for the body as a whole; a trace of that is the sense “male genital organ” (plural about 1170, Marie de France; singular about 1225), later specified as ''membre viril'' (1598).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ From about 1200 it was applied by metaphor to a person belonging to a group, first to the mystical body of the Church, then to a guild (1432) and a community (about 1570), and today to an association: ''membre actif'', ''membre honoraire'' (1903).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The idea “part of a whole” also gave technical senses: part of a fief (1240–80), a clause of a sentence (about 1250), a part of a building (1479), a ship's timber (1541) and each side of an equation (1691).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''État membre'' is recorded in 1938, at the League of Nations.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – “Limb”, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Membres'' “male genitals”, Marie de France.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – A member of the Church.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1250 – A clause of a sentence.^(TLFi)

+ * 1432 – A member of a guild, in Liège.^(TLFi)

+ * 1691 – Each side of an equation, Ozanam.^(TLFi)

+ * 1938 – ''États membres''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|limb]]: each of the four parts attached to the trunk, ''membres supérieurs, inférieurs'', arms, legs, ''trembler de tous ses membres''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Membre viril'', or simply ''membre'': the [[m|en|penis]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|member]] of a group, society or organization, ''membre fondateur'', founding member; in apposition, ''État membre'', ''pays membre''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A part of a whole: ''membre de phrase'', a clause, ''(mathematics)'' each side of an equation.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(architecture, shipbuilding)'' A structural part; a [[m|en|rib]] of a ship's frame.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[membré]]

+ * [[membru]]

+ * [[membrure]]

+ * [[démembrer]]

+ * [[démembrement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|membrum]]

+ * [[en|member]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}