lointain French · revision 16767

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1140, Pèlerinage de Charlemagne|origins=la longē}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lwɛ̃.tɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lointain''' (feminine lointaine, masculine plural lointains, feminine plural lointaines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|loingtien]], ''loingtaine''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|loingtien]], [[inh|la-vul|*longitānus|t=far off]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 406a)^(Wiktionary) also required by the Italian and Catalan forms, a derivative of [[m|la|longē|t=far]] (see [[loin]]), perhaps on the model of [[m|la-vul|*subitānus]], which gave [[soudain]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lontano]], [[pro|lonhdan]] and [[ca|llunyà]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' (about 1140) has ''un lointain reialme'', “a faraway realm”, Gaimar uses it of a person who lives or comes from far away about the same time.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It referred to time from about 1160 (''Eneas'', ''molt lointaing äage'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From ''lointain degré de lignage'' (Beaumanoir, 1283) it developed the abstract sense “vague, indirect” (Alain Chartier, 1422), and Rousseau (1762) uses it for what comes from far away.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Since the early 20th century it has described a distant, absent look or manner.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ As a noun it meant a distant land in Wace (1155), an isolated use; it was taken up in painting, chiefly as ''les lointains'' (1640), and passed into general use (La Fontaine, 1685, ''en lointain''); its temporal sense as a noun came late (1863).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1140 – ''Un lointain reialme'', ''Pèlerinage de Charlemagne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – As a noun “distant land”, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – Of time, ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1283 – ''Loingtien degré de lignage'', Beaumanoir.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''Les lointains'' in painting.^(TLFi)

+ * 1685 – ''En lointain'', La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|distant]], [[m|en|remote]], far-off in space: ''un pays lointain'', ''rumeur lointaine''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Far off in time.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Indirect, not close: ''les causes lointaines de la Révolution''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Of a person, a look: distant, absent: ''avoir l'air lointain''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le lointain'': the distance: ''dans le lointain'', ''(painting)'' the background, ''les lointains''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lointainement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[loin]]

+ * [[long]]

+ * [[soudain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}