meurtre French · revision 16829

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1090 (murtre)|origins=frk *murþrjan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mœʁtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''meurtre''' ''m'' (plural meurtres)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|murtre]], [[m|fro|mordre]], ''murdre'', also with ⟨l⟩ forms, ''meurtre'' from the 13th century (Adenet, 1273) and usual from the 14th.^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun [[der|fro|murtrir|t=to murder]] (modern [[meurtrir]]),^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) which Bloch and Wartburg derive from Frankish [[m|frk|*murþrjan|t=to murder]]; compare [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂|tr=maurþr|t=murder]] and [[goh|mord|t=murder]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/3, 316b)^(REW 1935) The word passed from Frankish into Romance at different times, so that the Germanic dental fricative, which became a ⟨d⟩ after ⟨r⟩ in Frankish, came in with two pronunciations, whence the Old French doublets [[m|fro|murtre]] and [[m|fro|mordre]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The spellings with ⟨eu⟩ are remakings of the 14th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Wiktionary instead derives the noun directly from Frankish [[m|frk|*murþar|t=murder]], from [[gem-pro|*murþrą]], and compares [[la-med|murdrum]].^(Wiktionary) Related Germanic words are [[en|murder]] and [[de|Mord]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears about 1090 as ''murtre'', and about 1130 in the ''Laws of William the Conqueror'' as ''murdre'' for homicide, the fine for a Frenchman killed: ''sin rendrunt le murtre quarant sept mars''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old French law distinguished it as killing by ambush: Beaumanoir defines ''murdres'' as killing someone by premeditated ambush between sunset and sunrise.^(Littré 1873) Its derivative [[meurtrier]] (''murtrier'' in the 12th century) gave ''meurtrière'' “loophole” (1573), earlier ''archière''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ By exaggeration ''c'est un meurtre'' is said of a regrettable thing (Quinault, 1665), and ''crier au meurtre'' is “to cry murder” (before 1613, Régnier).^(GLLF 1989) Meyer-Lübke files [[meurtrir]] in its sense “to bruise” under a different etymon.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1090 – ''Murtre''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1130 – ''Murdre'', Laws of William the Conqueror.^(TLFi)

+ * 1273 – The form ''meurtre'', Adenet.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1530 – ''Meurtre'' in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1573 – ''Meurtrière'' “loophole”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1665 – “A regrettable thing”, Quinault.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|murder]]: the deliberate killing of a human being, ''tentative de meurtre'', attempted murder; compare ''assassinat'', murder with premeditation.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative, familiar)'' A great pity, a crime: ''ce serait un meurtre de…''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[meurtrier]]

+ * [[meurtrière]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[meurtrir]]

+ * [[en|murder]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}