souci French · revision 16985

+ {{homograph|1|worry}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1217–1222, Jean Renart, Guillaume de Dole|origins=la sollicito}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /su.si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''souci''' ''m'' (plural soucis)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|soussi]] and ''sousi'' (13th century), then ''soucy'' (14th century) and ''souci'' (1530, Palsgrave).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for worry is a deverbal noun from [[soucier]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) which comes from [[la-vul|*sollicītō]], an alteration of [[la|sollicitō|t=to stir up; to disturb, worry]], probably after the past participle of [[m|la|exciō|t=to rouse, stir up]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The classical verb was later borrowed as [[solliciter]], a doublet.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The REW lists the noun under the same Latin verb.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Renart's ''Guillaume de Dole'' (1217–1222) has ''soussi'' “anxiety caused by danger or difficulty”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Guillaume de Lorris's part of the ''Roman de la Rose'' (1225–1230) it is found in ''estre en souci'' and in the sense “concern for something”.^(TLFi) At the end of the 14th century it was used of the torments of love (Eustache Deschamps), and in the 16th century of the beloved herself: Rémy Belleau and Baïf address her as ''mon souci''.^(TLFi) Robert Estienne records it in 1549 for a cause of worry.^(TLFi) The Grand Robert notes that the word fell out of favour for a time and was thought old-fashioned about 1700.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ''Avoir souci de'' “to care about” is in Ronsard (mid-16th century).^(GLLF 1989) Its familiar phrases are later: ''se faire du souci'' is in the Robert dictionary of 1964.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1217–1222 – ''Soussi'' in Jean Renart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1225–1230 – ''Estre en souci'', in Guillaume de Lorris.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – Lovers' anxiety, in Eustache Deschamps.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – The spelling ''souci'' (Palsgrave).^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1549 – A cause of worry, in Robert Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1577 – ''Mon souci'', of a beloved (Belleau).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|worry|alt=Worry]], [[m|en|anxiety]]: ''se faire du souci'', to worry, ''être sans souci''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A cause of worry, a problem: ''soucis d'argent'', ''c'est le cadet de mes soucis'', that is the least of my worries, ''pas de souci'' ''(familiar)'', no problem.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Care, [[m|en|concern]] for something: ''avoir souci de''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[soucieux]]

+ * [[sans-souci]]

+ * [[insouciant]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|marigold}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-13th century|origins=la-lat solsequia}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''souci''' ''m'' (plural soucis)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|soussie]] (feminine, about 1280), [[m|fro|sousicle]] (1334), ''solcie'' (about 1380), ''solsie'' (1464); masculine ''soucy'' (about 1530), ''soulci'' (1538) and ''souci'' (1600, Olivier de Serres).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The plant name is an alteration (1538), after the word for “worry”, of the Old French feminine [[m|fro|soussie]],^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) [[bor|la-lat|solsequia|t=sunflower; wild chicory]] (6th–7th centuries, Isidore), literally “the one that follows the sun”, from [[m|la|sōl|t=sun]] and [[m|la|sequor|t=to follow]];^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|12, 73a) its ending was adapted to the suffix [[-ie]] common in plant names.^(TLFi) Littré explains the name by the flower heads, which seem to turn towards the sun, as in [[tournesol]].^(Littré 1873) Bloch and Wartburg note that the word belonged to northern France and was taken from Latin rather than handed down in popular speech; it reached the South only recently.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A Glasgow glossary of the mid-13th century glosses Latin ''solsequium'' with ''sussie''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The name covers the wild plant of the fields (''souci des champs'', 1780) and the cultivated one (''souci des jardins''), and by extension its flower.^(DHLF 1992) ''Souci d'eau'' named the yellow loosestrife (1550) and the marsh marigold (1765).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From the colour of the flower the word named a cloth (1313, ''soussie''), the colour yellow (''couleur de souci'', 1636; as a noun, 1791) and, in Valmont de Bomare (1780), an orange butterfly.^(DHLF 1992) ''Jaune comme souci'' (1690) was said of a sallow complexion.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-13th century – ''Sussie'' in a Glasgow glossary.^(TLFi)

+ * 1313 – A cloth of that colour.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – The masculine ''soulci'' (Robert Estienne).^(TLFi)

+ * 1550 – ''Souci d'eau''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1636 – ''Couleur de souci''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1780 – A butterfly, ''souci des champs''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|marigold]] (genus ''Calendula''), a plant with bright yellow or orange flowers, ''souci des jardins'', the pot marigold.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The flower of this plant.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Souci d'eau'': the [[m|en|marsh marigold]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(entomology)'' An orange butterfly, the clouded yellow.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[soucier]]

+ * [[solliciter]]

+ * [[tournesol]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}