terme French · revision 16899

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la terminus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɛʁm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terme''' ''m'' (plural termes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|terme]], [[inh|la|terminus|t=boundary stone; limit, end]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|13/1, 239b) The Latin word was personified and deified as Terminus, the god who guarded boundaries, and also meant figuratively “limit, end”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It is an Italic word, found in Oscan and Umbrian, and corresponds to [[grc|τέρμα|tr=térma|t=limit, end]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) In the 13th century a learned “termine” was made on the Latin, but it did not last.^(Littré 1873) [[terminus]] is a doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Rey treats the sense “word, expression” as a separate borrowing (about 1360) of Medieval Latin “terminus”, used by Thomas Aquinas for “dictio”, “locutio”, “that which delimits a meaning”.^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[ro|termen]], [[it|termine]], [[oc|terme]], [[ca|terme]] and [[pt|termo]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) uses it for a date to come; in the ''Chanson de Roland'' it is a set term after which something must happen: ''vendrat li jurz, si passerat li termes'' “the day will come and the term will pass”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 12th century it was a fixed limit, a due date, especially of payments (1283) and of rents (1421), and by metonymy the sum due on that date, the quarter's rent.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Phrases followed: ''à terme'' (13th century), ''à court terme'' (about 1220, in the sense of time; 1804 of duration), ''à long terme'' (1872), ''vente à terme'' on the stock exchange (1720) and ''mettre un terme à'' (1706 or later).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) It was said of the end of a pregnancy (about 1145), whence ''accoucher avant terme'' (1465), and figuratively of death (late 13th century).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In the plural ''termes'' meant one's state or footing with someone (1468), whence ''être en bons termes'' (1623).^(DHLF 1992) The spatial sense of the Latin lasted less well: a boundary stone (about 1380), and, from the 16th century the statue of Terminus, a bust ending in a sheath, used as an ornament (1571), now historical.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The sense “word, expression” (about 1360) gave ''en d'autres termes'' and, in logic and mathematics, the terms of a proposition or an equation.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – “A date to come”, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1080 – “A set term”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1145 – The term of a pregnancy.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1283 – A due date for payment.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1360 – “Word, expression”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1421 – The rent due at a quarter day.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1623 – ''Être en bons termes''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1720 – ''Vente à terme''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1872 – ''À long terme''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An end, a limit in time: ''mettre un terme à'', to put an end to, ''au terme de'', at the end of.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A set date, due date, ''à terme'', on credit, at a fixed date, ''à court, à long terme'', in the short, long term.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|rent]] due at a set date; a quarter's rent.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The end of a pregnancy: ''accoucher avant terme''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|term]], word, expression: ''terme technique'', ''en d'autres termes'', in other words.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Terms, conditions: ''aux termes du contrat''; relations: ''être en bons termes''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(logic, mathematics)'' A term of a proposition, a fraction or an equation.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(antiquity)'' A boundary stone; a [[m|en|herm]], a statue of the god Terminus.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terminer]]

+ * [[terminus]]

+ * [[terminal]]

+ * [[atermoyer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}