enfance French · revision 16843

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1120–1150, Grant mal fist Adam|origins=la īnfāns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.fɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''enfance''' ''f'' (plural enfances)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|īnfantia|t=early childhood; children; inability to speak]], from [[m|la|īnfāns|t=not speaking; child]], the source of [[enfant]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|4, 663b)^(Wiktionary) The TLFi describes it as taken from classical Latin.^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg note that the word is only Gallo-Romance, with [[pro|enfansa]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[es|infancia]] and [[it|infanzia]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The poem ''Grant mal fist Adam'' (about 1120–50) uses it for the first period of human life.^(TLFi) The ''Roncevaux'' has ''Li clers fut sages dès qu'il issit d'enfance'' “the clerk was wise as soon as he left childhood”.^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By about 1160 (''Eneas'') it also meant a child's way of acting, naivety, childishness, and about 1260 Philippe de Novare has ''revenir en anfance'' “to go back to childhood, become senile”; the ''Roman de la Rose'' says of Old Age that she ''retornoit ja en enfance''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The AND records Anglo-Norman senses such as “minority”, “childish game” and “story of a hero's childhood exploits”.^(AND) Racine (1667) uses it collectively for children, and Régnier (before 1613) for the beginning of something: ''l'enfance de l'art''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120–1150 – Childhood.^(TLFi)

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

+ * c. 1260 – ''Revenir en enfance'', Philippe de Novare.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1360 – ''D'enfance'' “since childhood”, Froissart.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * Before 1613 – “Beginning, origin”, Régnier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1667 – Children collectively, Racine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|childhood]], the period of life from birth to adolescence: ''une enfance heureuse'', ''souvenirs d'enfance'', ''la petite enfance''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Children collectively: ''la protection de l'enfance''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # The beginning of something: ''l'enfance de l'humanité'', ''c'est l'enfance de l'art'', it's child's play.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Retomber en enfance'': to become senile.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enfant]]

+ * [[enfantin]]

+ * [[infantile]]

+ * [[la|īnfantia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}