feuille French · revision 17097

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=first half of the 12th century, Cambridge Psalter|origins=la folium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fœj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''feuille''' ''f'' (plural feuilles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''fueille'', ''foille'' (about 1130); ''feuille'' from 1273 (Adenet).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Old French also had the masculine [[m|fro|fueil]], ''foil''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|fueille]], [[inh|la-lat|folia]], the neuter plural of [[la|folium|t=leaf; sheet of paper]], taken as a feminine singular.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 677b) The collective plural is explained by its sense “foliage of a tree”; the singular “folium” gave Old French “fueil”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Whether “folium” is related to [[grc|φύλλον|tr=phúllon|t=leaf]] is debated.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|foaie]], [[it|foglia]], [[es|hoja]] and [[pt|folha]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it for the leaf of a plant.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1200 it meant a thin flat sheet of matter (of gold), and in the 13th century a sheet of paper.^(TLFi) ''Feuille morte'' is from the 13th century, and ''trembler comme une feuille'' is recorded in Retz (before 1679).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF) ''Feuilles volantes'' “pamphlets” is in Voltaire (1751), and ''feuille'' “newspaper” in the ''Moniteur'' (1789), with ''feuille de chou'' “rag” (1858).^(TLFi) Slang made ''feuilles de chou'' the ears (Delvau, 1867), whence ''être dur de la feuille'' “to be hard of hearing”.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In New Caledonia ''les feuilles'' are medicinal plants with magic power.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Fueille'', ''foille''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * first half of the 12th century – A plant's leaf, Cambridge Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – A thin sheet (of gold).^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – A sheet of paper.^(TLFi)

+ * 1789 – A newspaper, ''Moniteur''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1858 – ''Feuille de chou'' “rag”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1867 – ''Feuilles de chou'' “ears”, Delvau.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|leaf]] (of a plant): ''feuilles mortes'', ''trembler comme une feuille''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A sheet (of paper, of metal): ''une feuille blanche'', ''feuille d'or''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A document, form: ''feuille de paie'', payslip, ''feuille de route'', travel orders; roadmap.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A newspaper, ''feuille de chou'', a rag.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Ear: ''être dur de la feuille'', to be hard of hearing.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[feuillage]]

+ * [[feuillée]]

+ * [[feuillet]]

+ * [[feuilleter]]

+ * [[feuilleté]]

+ * [[feuilleton]]

+ * [[feuillu]]

+ * [[effeuiller]]

+ * [[mille-feuille]]

+ * [[portefeuille]]

+ * [[chèvrefeuille]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[folio]]

+ * [[la|folium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}