sombre French · revision 17068

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=1374, Tournai (sombre cop); 1530, Palsgrave|origins=la umbra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (France): /sɔ̃bʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /sõːbʀ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sombre''' (plural sombres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is not certain.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It is probably a back-formation from an unrecorded verb “*sombrer” “to cast shade”, [[der|la-lat|subumbrō|t=to overshadow]], found only twice, in scriptural texts of about 400 and of the 8th century, from [[m|la|sub-|t=under]] and [[m|la|umbrō|t=to shade]], from [[m|la|umbra|t=shade]] (see [[ombre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|12, 374b) The adjective must be older than its first record: Old French already had [[m|fro|essombre|t=darkness, a dark place]] with the intensive prefix “es-”, in the “Roman de Renart” (before 1179).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ [[es|sombra|t=shade]] is likewise formed from a verb “sombrar”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) [[pro|solombrar|t=to shade]] seems to have been influenced by the word for “sun”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey finds no support for a Gaulish origin, and Wiktionary allows a direct origin in [[la|sub umbrā|t=in the shade]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the north, a ''sombre cop'' (1374, in the registers of Tournai) was a blow that bruised without drawing blood: ''celuy qui frappe autruy de sombre coup, sans sang''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989) The sense “dark” appears in Palsgrave (1530): ''le temps est sombre… il fait sombre'' “the weather is overcast”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 16th century the adjective described places that get little light; poetry spoke of ''les sombres bords'' for the underworld.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The figurative sense “gloomy, tragic, threatening” is found in 1545, and the Académie applied it to colours close to black in 1694.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A noun ''le sombre'' “the dark” was used for a time (1611) but did not last.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In forestry a ''coupe sombre'' (1863) was a light thinning that left the wood shady, but from 1910 the phrase was misread as “a drastic cut”, especially in staff.^(TLFi) It described a dull, veiled voice from 1855, and since Lautréamont (1868) it is a pejorative intensifier before a noun: ''un sombre crétin''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The verb [[sombrer]] (1654) is derived from it.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1179 – ''Essombre'' “darkness”, ''Roman de Renart''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1374 – ''Sombre cop'', Tournai.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – “Overcast, dark”, Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1545 – “Gloomy, threatening”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Couleurs sombres'', Académie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1863 – ''Coupe sombre'' in forestry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1868 – Pejorative ''sombre'', Lautréamont.^(TLFi)

+ * 1910 – ''Coupe sombre'' “drastic cut”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|dark]], getting little light: ''une pièce sombre'', ''il fait sombre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Dark in colour, close to black: ''un costume sombre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # [[m|en|gloomy]], melancholy, grim: ''un air sombre''; threatening: ''un avenir sombre''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(familiar, before the noun)'' Utter, wretched: ''un sombre idiot''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Coupe sombre'': a drastic cut.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sombrer]]

+ * [[assombrir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ombre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}