parfum French · revision 16882

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=1528, Comptes royaux|origins=la fumo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /paʁ.fœ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /paʁ.fɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parfum''' ''m'' (plural parfums)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun [[der|fr|parfumer|t=to scent]].^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) The verb (14th century) was formed from [[la|fūmō|t=to smoke]] (see [[fumer]]) with [[m|la|per|t=through]], probably borrowed from a Mediterranean language that cannot be identified: compare [[pro|perfumar]] and its noun [[m|pro|perfum]] (1387 or 1397), [[ca|perfumar]], [[es|perfumar]], [[pt|perfumar]], and [[it|profumare]] (1508) beside dialectal [[m|it|perfumare]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) The Grand Robert also allows Italian [[m|it|perfumo]] as the source of the noun.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Royal accounts of 1528 use it for a pleasant smell, natural or artificial.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) In the 16th century it was above all a smoke, a fumigation, especially a fragrant one, as in Calvin's ''si on fait perfum aux images de l'empereur''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rabelais (1546) has it for any smell or exhalation, the ''perfums de la canonnerie'';^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Baudelaire (1866) used it by antiphrasis for a foul smell.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 17th-century medicine it meant all the vapours, good or bad, raised to cure illness (1690, Furetière), when the link with smoke was still felt.^(DHLF 1992) It came to name the scented substance itself, and later the flavour of a food (late 18th century), as in ''glaces à tous les parfums''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The slang ''être au parfum'' “to be in the know” (about 1950–1953, Le Breton) has become familiar, as has ''mettre au parfum''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The derivatives include [[parfumeur]] (1527) and [[parfumerie]] (1803).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1387 – Old Occitan ''perfum''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1527 – The verb ''parfumer'' and ''parfumeur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1528 – ''Parfum'' “a pleasant smell”.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1546 – “Smell, exhalation”, in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Medicinal vapours, in Furetière.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1803 – ''Parfumerie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1953 – ''Être au parfum'', in Le Breton.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A pleasant smell, a [[m|en|scent]], [[m|en|fragrance]]: ''le doux parfum de la rose''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|perfume|alt=Perfume]], a scented substance worn on the body: ''un flacon de parfum''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|flavour]] (of an ice cream, a dessert): ''glaces à tous les parfums''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An air, a hint: ''un parfum de scandale''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Être au parfum'': to be in the know, ''mettre quelqu'un au parfum'', to fill someone in.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[parfumerie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parfumer]]

+ * [[parfumeur]]

+ * [[fumer]]

+ * [[fumée]]

+ * [[en|perfume]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}