blond French · revision 17056

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (blund)|origins=gem-pro *blundaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''blond''' (feminine blonde, masculine plural blonds, feminine plural blondes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''blund'' (about 1100), ''blond'' from 1164.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It is usually traced to a Germanic “*blunda-” ([[frk|*blund]]), since it names a hair colour typical of northern peoples and many French colour words are Germanic, such as [[blanc]], [[bleu]], [[brun]] and [[gris]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/1, 170b) The Germanic word has no match in the later Germanic languages: [[de|blond]] was borrowed from French through courtly poetry, and [[en|blond]] also comes from French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary reconstructs [[gem-pro|*blundaz|t=mixed, blinding]] and has the French word from [[la-med|blondus]], Rey notes that no Latin form is recorded before the mid-12th century, although the word must have passed through spoken Latin.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992) Kluge compared it, hypothetically, with [[sa|ब्रध्न|tr=bradhná|t=reddish]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|biondo]] and [[pro|blon]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it is a noun, a fair-haired person: ''Jurfaleu le blund''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005) It is an adjective from about 1160.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By metonymy it described the hair itself from about 1200, and, from 1336 things of a golden yellow, such as ''pain blond''; often it is opposed to ''brun'', as in ''bière blonde'' and ''une blonde'' (1882).^(DHLF 1992) ''Blond vénitien'' refers to the colours of painters such as Titian.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''La blonde de qqn'' “someone's girlfriend” (1810 in Canada) is dated in European French, remembered in the song ''Auprès de ma blonde'', but remains usual in Quebec.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) As a feminine noun it also named a plant, the mullein (1561), a silk lace (1740) and a cigarette of light tobacco (20th century).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Blund'', a fair-haired person, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – Adjective.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1336 – ''Pain blond''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1740 – ''Blonde'', a silk lace.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1810 – ''Sa blonde'' “his girlfriend”, in Canada.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1882 – ''De la blonde'', light beer.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|blond]], fair (of hair); fair-haired: ''cheveux blonds'', ''blond comme les blés''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Pale yellow, golden: ''bière blonde'', ''tabac blond''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Chères têtes blondes'': children.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fair-haired person: ''une belle blonde''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' ''Sa blonde'': his [[m|en|girlfriend]] or wife.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(feminine)'' A light beer; a cigarette of light tobacco.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[blondeur]]

+ * [[blondir]]

+ * [[blondin]]

+ * [[blondinet]]

+ * [[blondasse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}