monstre French · revision 16904

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Psautier d'Oxford|origins=la moneo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔ̃stʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''monstre''' ''m'' (plural monstres)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|mostre]] (1160) beside ''monstre''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|mōnstrum|t=portent, prodigy; monster]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word comes from [[m|la|moneō|t=to remind, warn]]: in religious language it was a prodigy warning of the will of the gods, then any exceptional object or supernatural being, and in Christian Latin especially a demon.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Comedy used it of people, as in Terence's “monstrum hominis” and Plautus's “monstrum mulieris”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) [[montrer]] belongs to the same family, but its Latin source [[m|la|mōnstrō]] had already lost the religious sense and meant only “to show”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ It matches [[pro|mostre]], [[es|monstruo]], [[pt|monstro]] and [[it|mostro]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has it for a divine prodigy or miracle, translating Latin ''signa'' and ''prodigia'': ''les ovres del seigneur, les queles il posat monstres sur terre''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''Roman d'Eneas'' (1160) uses ''mostre'' of Cacus, a fabulous being of legend, and, from the 12th century it was said of people: a man of strange looks and ways (1165), a leper (1223), a deformed man (1225), and, from the 17th century a very ugly person (1690).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Monstre marin'' dates from 1561–1562, and in the 17th century it was said of the large fish served at table (1678).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ The general sense declined: “a monstrous, criminal act” (1541, Calvin), “an incredible thing” (1580, Montaigne) and “a badly ordered thing”, a building without symmetry or a learned book without order (1690, Furetière).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) As a moral judgement it named a cruel or depraved person;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''un monstre de cruauté'' is in Furetière (1690), and by antiphrasis Mme de Genlis could say ''c'est un monstre!'' of an adorable pouffe (1779).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The adjective ''monstre'' “huge, colossal”, as in ''un effet monstre'', is from 1841;^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) ''monstre sacré'', a great star, is a modern phrase.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Monstre'' “prodigy, miracle”, in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1160 – ''Mostre'', a fabulous being, in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1328 – The adjective [[monstrueux]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1541 – “A monstrous act”, in Calvin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1561 – ''Monstre marin''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1580 – “An incredible thing”, in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Un monstre de cruauté'', in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1841 – Adjective: ''un effet monstre''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|monster]], a fantastic creature of legend or myth: ''le monstre du loch Ness''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A huge or frightening animal, ''monstres marins'', large sea creatures.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A being of abnormal form, a [[m|en|freak]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A cruel or depraved person, a [[m|en|fiend]], ''un monstre de'', a paragon of (a vice or quality).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A naughty child: ''petit monstre !''^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Monstre sacré'': a great star of the stage or screen.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(familiar)'' Huge, colossal: ''un travail monstre'', ''un effet monstre''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[monstrueux]]

+ * [[monstrueusement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[montrer]]

+ * [[monstruosité]]

+ * [[la|mōnstrum]]

+ * [[la|moneō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Littré lists a second, feminine ''monstre'', which is the same word as [[montre]], formerly spelled ''monstre''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}