veille French · revision 16953

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1145, Wace, Conception Notre-Dame|origins=la vigilia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɛj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''veille''' ''f'' (plural veilles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|veille]] (1145), ''voille'' (about 1170), ''velle'' (1373).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|vigilia|t=wakefulness; night watch]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 438b) the Roman night being divided into four such watches.^(DHLF 1992) The TLFi derives it from [[m|la|vigil|t=awake, watchful; watchman]],^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Rey from [[m|la|vigeō|t=to be lively, vigorous]], which he compares with Germanic words such as [[frk|*wahtōn|t=to watch]], the source of [[guetter]], and [[en|wake]].^(DHLF 1992) The sense “day before” is peculiar to Gallo-Romance and comes from the Church's use of the word in Medieval Latin.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) Littré starts from a contracted form ⟨viglia⟩.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|velha]], [[es|vela]] (remade on the verb), [[pt|vigia]] and [[roa-oit|vegghia]]; [[it|veglia]] is a borrowing.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) The learned [[vigile]] belongs to the same family.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace's ''Conception Notre-Dame'' (1145) uses it for staying awake at night in prayer: ''fist ses oreisons E veilles e aflictions''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Soon it was also an evening spent together (about 1240), a sense later taken over by [[veillée]].^(DHLF 1992) Chrétien de Troyes has ''la voille de Natevité'', the day before Christmas (about 1170), and Furetière (1690) the night of prayer before a feast.^(TLFi) Outside religion it came to mean the day before any event in the 16th century (''la veille des nopces'', 1537), whence ''à la veille de'' “on the eve of” (1599).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From the first sense came “watching, keeping guard” (Froissart, 1373) and the night watch (1596), still found in ''homme de veille'' and ''radar de veille''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In the plural the ''veilles'' were long nights of study (1553); Furetière writes that scholars ''nous font voir du fruit de leurs veilles''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Monet (1636) contrasts ''veille'' with sleep, and ''veille des armes'', the vigil before knighting, is recorded in 1732.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In business it has meant the gathering and analysis of strategic information since the second half of the 20th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1145 – A night spent in prayer, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – ''La voille de Natevité''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1240 – An evening gathering.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1373 – Watching, in Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1537 – The day before any event.^(TLFi)

+ * 1553 – Nights of study.^(TLFi)

+ * 1596 – The night watch.^(TLFi)

+ * 1599 – ''À la veille de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1732 – ''Veille des armes''.^(TLFi)

+ * 2nd half of the 20th century – ''Veille technologique''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The day before, the [[m|en|eve]] (of a feast or of any event); ''à la veille de'', on the eve of, just before, ''ce n'est pas demain la veille'', that won't happen any time soon.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # [[m|en|wakefulness|alt=Wakefulness]], the state of being awake, as opposed to sleep.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A time of staying awake at night, especially for work: ''de longues veilles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A [[m|en|watch]], night guard: ''homme de veille'', ''radar de veille''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(computing)'' [[m|en|standby|alt=Standby]], ''écran de veille'', a screensaver.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(business)'' Monitoring of information: ''veille technologique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[avant-veille]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[veiller]]

+ * [[veillée]]

+ * [[veilleur]]

+ * [[surveiller]]

+ * [[vigile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}