mine French · revision 16801

+ French has two main words spelled ''mine'': the look of a face, and a mine dug for ore or explosives.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

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+ {{homograph|1|appearance}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=14th century (faire mines)|origins=br min}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /min/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''mine''' ''f'' (plural mines)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The look is probably [[bor|br|min|t=beak, muzzle]], according to the TLFi, the Grand Robert and Rey, who all qualify it with “perhaps”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|20, 12b) Pierre Guiraud proposes instead Old French [[m|fro|mine|t=minium]], from [[la|miniō|t=to paint red]], the word having first meant the colour of the face (see [[minium]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré calls the origin uncertain: [[de|Miene]] and [[da|mine]] may themselves come from Romance, and Diez related it to [[la|minō|t=to drive, lead]];^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Rey states that the German word is a gallicism.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the phrase ''faire mines'' “to make faces” (14th century, in a 16th-century manuscript), and ''faire faulce myne'' is in the ''Farce de Maître Pathelin'' (1464).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It names the natural appearance of the face and of the whole body, revealing feelings, qualities, wealth or rank (1452); older usage included the body as much as the face.^(DHLF 1992) From 1538 it means the expression by which one shows one's feelings.^(DHLF 1992) Hence ''faire bonne mine'' “to look cheerful” (late 15th century), then “to welcome” (Mairet, 1639), now archaic, while ''faire grise mine'', ''faire triste mine'' (Scarron, 1649) live on, ''faire la mine'' (1573) has been replaced by ''faire la tête''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Faire des mines'' passed from expressing feelings by gestures (about 1525) to the pejorative “to simper” (1558), see [[minauder]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ The idea of appearance as opposed to true nature (1616) gave classical ''avoir la mine de'' “to look like”, and ''ne pas payer de mine'' “not to look much” (1835), earlier used positively (1669).^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – ''Faire mines'' “to make faces”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1452 – The appearance of face and body.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1464 – ''Faire faulce myne'', ''Pathelin''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 15th century – ''Faire bonne mine''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1558 – ''Faire des mines'' “to simper”, Des Périers.^(TLFi)

+ * 1649 – ''Faire triste mine'', Scarron.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – ''Ne pas payer de mine''.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The look of the face as a sign of health: ''avoir bonne mine'', to look well, or ironically to look silly.^(TLFi)

+ # Appearance, outward look: ''juger les gens sur la mine'', ''ne pas payer de mine'', not to look much.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Expression, look: ''faire grise mine'', to look sullen, ''faire bonne mine à mauvais jeu'', to put a good face on it.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Faire mine de rien'': to look as if nothing were the matter.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Faire mine de'': to pretend to, make as if to.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Des mines'': simpering, affected airs.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[minauder]]

+ * [[minois]]

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+ {{homograph|2|mine}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1220, Anseïs de Carthage|origins=xtg *meina}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /min/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mine''' ''f'' (plural mines)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The mine is perhaps [[bor|xtg|*meina|t=ore, raw metal]], through [[m|la-vul|*mina]];^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(FEW|6/1, 642a) compare [[ga|mein]] and [[cy|mwyn|t=ore]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg note that Gaulish ⟨ei⟩ became sometimes ⟨i⟩, sometimes ⟨e⟩, and Meyer-Lübke stresses that mining was important in Roman Gaul.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) Pierre Guiraud proposed instead [[la|minuō|t=to reduce, break up]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

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+ The word passed from French into neighbouring languages: [[it|mina]], [[es|mina]], [[en|mine]] and [[de|Mine]].^(DHLF 1992) The verb [[miner]] and [[minière]] belong to the same family.^(REW 1935)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Anseïs de Carthage'' (about 1220) has it for an underground place where metals lie, or a cavity dug to extract them.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old French also used it for the ore itself (1300), the modern [[minerai]]; a trace survives in the lead of a pencil (Richelet, 1680) and ''mine de plomb'' “graphite” (Monet, 1636).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Since the 17th century it has been used figuratively for a source of wealth, ''mine d'or'' (La Bruyère, 1694), or of ideas (Voltaire), and ''une mine de savoir'' (1835).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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+ In siege warfare it was a tunnel dug under walls to bring them down (Froissart, late 14th century), later filled with explosives (Belleau, 1578); hence ''éventer la mine'' “to thwart a secret plan” (Amyot, 1559) and ''faire jouer la mine'' (d'Aubigné, 1618).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) In the 20th century it became an explosive device on land or at sea (1918), with ''champ de mines'' (1953).^(GLLF 1989)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1220 – A mine for metals, ''Anseïs de Carthage''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1300 – “Ore”.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – A siege mine, Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – ''Éventer la mine'', Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1578 – A charge of explosives, Belleau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – The lead of a pencil, Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Mine d'or'', La Bruyère.^(TLFi)

+ * 1918 – A naval mine.^(GLLF 1989)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mine]], a place where ore or coal is extracted: ''mine d'or'', also a gold mine of profits.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A rich source: ''une mine de savoir''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # The [[m|en|lead]] of a pencil, ''mine de plomb'', graphite.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An explosive mine, ''champ de mines'', minefield, ''dragueur de mines'', minesweeper.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(old)'' A siege mine, ''éventer la mine'', to uncover a plot.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(football, familiar)'' A powerful shot.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[miner]]

+ * [[mineur]]

+ * [[minier]]

+ * [[minerai]]

+ * [[minière]]

+ * [[déminer]]

+ * [[démineur]]

+ * [[contre-mine]]

+ * [[porte-mine]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words are also spelled ''mine'': an old measure of grain, an alteration of ''émine'' from [[la|hēmīna]] (Wace, 1160–74), whence [[minot]] and [[minoterie]];^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) and the Greek weight and coin of a hundred drachmas, from [[la|mina]] (1564).^(TLFi)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}