nombreux French · revision 16946

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1350, Glossaire de Paris|origins=la numerus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nɔ̃.bʁø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nombreux''' (feminine nombreuse, masculine plural nombreux, feminine plural nombreuses)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Nonbreus'' (about 1350); ''nombreux'' from 1564 (Jean Thierry); the 16th century also had the latinism ''numereux''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|nombre|-eux]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) after [[la|numerōsus|t=numerous; rhythmical]],^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) from [[m|la|numerus|t=number]], the source of [[nombre]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[pro|numeros]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A Latin–French glossary of about 1350 renders ''numerosus'' by ''nonbreus'', “in great number, made up of many”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century it also took the rhetorical sense of Latin ''numerōsus'', “rhythmical, harmonious”: Baïf has ''nombreuse cadance'' (1552), and Jean Thierry's dictionary (1564) ''nombreuses loix'', laws being called so because they were once written in verse.^(TLFi) The everyday sense, of a crowd, an audience or a family made up of many members, and in the plural “many”, has remained the main one.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1350 – ''Nonbreus'' in a Paris glossary.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – ''Nombreuse cadance'', in Baïf.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – The form ''nombreux'' (Jean Thierry).^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made up of many members: ''une foule nombreuse'', ''un public nombreux'', ''famille nombreuse'', a large family.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|numerous|alt=Numerous]], many: ''de nombreuses familles'', ''Ils sont très nombreux.''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of style, harmonious, rhythmical.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nombre]]

+ * [[la|numerus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the plural, when it means “made up of many”, ''nombreux'' is placed after the noun, to avoid confusion with ''de nombreux'' “many”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}