pâle French · revision 16859

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la palleo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pal/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /pɑl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pâle''' (plural pâles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|pale]], [[m|fro|palle]], ''pasle'' (late 16th century, d'Aubigné), still the Académie's spelling in 1694 and 1718, ''pâle'' in Miège (1677) and in the Académie from 1740.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|pallidus|t=pale yellow, (of the face) pale, wan]], from [[m|la|palleō|t=to be pale]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Wiktionary notes that an inherited word would have been syncopated, as Old French [[m|fro|*paut]]; the unsyncopated form is why the TLFi treats it as a borrowing, though it might reflect a regional development.^(Wiktionary) The learned [[pallide]] is a later doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Rey places the Latin word in a widespread Indo-European family of words for faint colours, with [[lt|pālvas|t=pale, light yellow]], [[goh|falo|t=pale, livid]] and [[grc|πελιός|tr=peliós|t=livid]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Littré compares [[it|pallido]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has it in its modern sense, white and colourless, of a face: ''teint fut et pers, descoloret et pale''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Les pâles couleurs'' named chlorosis (1538, Robert Estienne), and ''Visages pâles'', the Whites as seen by the Native Americans in adventure novels (1855, Mérimée), is probably a calque of [[en|paleface]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Only from the 17th century has it qualified a light without brightness (1639, Corneille) and a colour mixed with white (1690, Furetière).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Figuratively it came to mean “dull, colourless, without character” (1807, Mme de Staël, of the future), as in ''faire pâle figure''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The army phrase ''se faire porter pâle'' “to report sick” dates from about 1900.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Its derivatives include [[pâleur]] (about 1120, after Latin ''pallor''), [[pâlir]] (12th century) and [[pâlot]] (1775).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Pale'', of a face, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1120 – ''Pâleur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – ''Pâles couleurs'' “chlorosis”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1639 – Of light, in Corneille's ''Médée''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Of a colour mixed with white, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – The Académie spells it ''pâle''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1807 – Figuratively, “dull”, in Mme de Staël.^(TLFi)

+ * 1855 – ''Visages pâles'', in Mérimée.^(TLFi)

+ * 1900 – ''Se faire porter pâle''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|pale|alt=Pale]], white and dull, of the skin or face: ''pâle comme un linge'', ''pâle de colère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of light, faint, weak: ''lueur pâle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a colour, light, mixed with white: ''bleu pâle''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Dull, colourless, insipid: ''une pâle imitation'', ''faire pâle figure''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Se faire porter pâle'': to report sick.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Visage pâle'': a paleface.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pâleur]]

+ * [[pâlir]]

+ * [[pâlot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pallide]]

+ * [[la|pallidus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}