nombre French · revision 16823

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=first half of the 12th century, Cambridge Psalter|origins=la numerus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nɔ̃bʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nombre''' ''m'' (plural nombres)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|numbre]], [[m|fro|nonbre]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|nombre]], [[inh|la|numerus|t=number; quantity; rank; grammatical number; rhythm]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|7, 237a)^(Wiktionary) a word that rendered all the technical senses of [[grc|ἀριθμός|tr=arithmós]]; its plural meant the units of an army and, after Greek, the science of numbers.^(DHLF 1992) The origin of the Latin word is unknown; it is sometimes compared with [[grc|νέμω|tr=némō|t=to distribute, share]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) The rhetorical sense seems to have been borrowed from Latin by the Pléiade poets.^(TLFi)

+

+ It is a doublet of [[numéro]], borrowed from Italian.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007) Cognate with [[ro|număr]], [[pro|nombre]], [[es|número]] and [[it|novero]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Cambridge Psalter'' (first half of the 12th century) has ''mals, desquels nen est numbres'', “evils without number”, for the count of a plurality of persons or things.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The idea of count gave ''par nombre'' “in all” (about 1150), ''sans nombre'' (late 14th century) and ''les Nombres'', the Book of Numbers, which relates the census of the twelve tribes (13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Without any counting it expressed quantity, ''grand nombre'' (14th century) and ''en nombre'' (about 1360), and with ''au nombre de'' (1478) and ''du nombre de'' (1538) it came to mean “among”.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In some regions (Cher, Beauce) it means a set of twelve.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In mathematics the word first named an ideal proportion (1119), specified as ''nombre d'or'' (13th century), then any number (1130–40).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Technical senses followed in grammar (13th century), rhetoric (Du Bellay, 1549, the harmony of prose rhythm) and music (Furetière, 1685).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 12th century – ''Numbres'', ''Cambridge Psalter''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1119 – In mathematics, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – ''Nombre d'or'', ''les Nombres''; grammatical number.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1350 – [[nombreux]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1478 – ''Au nombre de'' “among”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – Rhetorical “number”, Du Bellay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1685 – Musical sense, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|number]], a basic concept of mathematics: ''nombre pair, impair'', ''nombres premiers'', prime numbers, ''nombre d'or'', the golden ratio.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A number of people or things; quantity: ''un grand nombre de''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''En nombre'': in large numbers, ''sans nombre'', countless, ''au nombre de'', among, or to the number of.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Number: singular, plural.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(rhetoric, music)'' Harmony arising from rhythm.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Les Nombres'': the Book of [[m|en|Numbers]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nombreux]]

+ * [[surnombre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[numéro]]

+ * [[nombrer]]

+ * [[dénombrer]]

+ * [[innombrable]]

+ * [[numérique]]

+ * [[en|number]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}