douleur French · revision 17095

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (dolur)|origins=la doleō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /du.lœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''douleur''' ''f'' (plural douleurs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|dolur]], ''dulur'', ''dolor'', ''douleur'' from the 14th century.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|dolor]], [[inh|la|dolor|t=physical or mental pain]] (accusative “dolōrem”), from [[m|la|doleō|t=to suffer, feel pain]], which also gave Old French [[m|fro|doloir]] “to suffer” (see [[douloir]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 119b)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|dolore]], [[es|dolor]], [[pt|dor]] and [[ro|durere]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''dolur''; the ''Chanson de Roland'' uses it for both physical pain and grief (''Deus ! quel dulur que li Franceis nel sevent !'').^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word came into French with both its physical and its moral sense, and its meaning has changed little; what changed from the classical to the Romantic period were its connotations and its relation to [[souffrance]] and [[peine]].^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg note that it is little used in the dialects, where the popular word is [[mal]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The plural ''douleurs'' names labour pains, as in ''accouchement sans douleur''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Compounds include [[souffre-douleur]] “whipping boy” (1607) and ''anti-douleur'' (1952); in the 20th century ''comprendre sa douleur'' came to mean “to have a very unpleasant experience”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Dolur'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – The spelling ''douleur''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1503 – The derivative ''endoulourir'', later ''endolorir''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1607 – ''Souffre-douleur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|pain]], physical suffering: ''une douleur aiguë'', ''crier de douleur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' Labour pains: ''être dans les douleurs''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Grief, sorrow, [[m|en|distress]]: ''la douleur d'une mère''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Comprendre sa douleur'': to have a hard time of it.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[douloureux]]

+ * [[endolorir]]

+ * [[souffre-douleur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deuil]]

+ * [[douloir]]

+ * [[dolent]]

+ * [[indolore]]

+ * [[la|dolor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}