pluie French · revision 17100

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la pluō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /plɥi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Belgium): [plwi]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pluie''' ''f'' (plural pluies)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''pluie'', also ''ploige'', ''pleuge'', ''pluye'' in the Académie until 1718, ''pluie'' from 1740.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|pluie]], [[inh|la-vul|*ploia]], from [[m|la-vul|*plovia]], an alteration after [[m|la-vul|*plovō|t=to rain]] (see [[pleuvoir]]) of [[la|pluvia|t=rain]], the feminine used as a noun of [[m|la|pluvius|t=rainy]], from [[m|la|pluō|t=to rain]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 105a) “*Plovia” explains the forms “ploige”, “pleuge” found in the Middle Ages and still in dialects from Walloon to Franco-Provençal.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It replaced the older Latin word [[m|la|imber]].^(DHLF 1992) The Petit Robert relates “pluere” to the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*plew-|t=to flow, swim]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|ploaie]], [[it|pioggia]], [[ca|pluja]] and [[oc|plueja]]; [[es|lluvia]] and [[pt|chuva]] continue “pluvia”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has it for water falling from the clouds: ''Pluie n'i chet, rosée n'i adeise''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Machaut (1342) records the proverb ''petite pluie abat grand vent''.^(DHLF 1992) The poets of the Pléiade gave it figurative senses: tears (Ronsard, 1550), the ''pluie d'or'' of the Danaë story (1552) and things that seem to fall from the sky in quantity, ''pluie d'œillets et de lys'' (1555).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Later uses include ''pluie de sang'' (Richelet, 1688) and ''pluie de feu'' for sparks (Furetière, 1690).^(TLFi)

+

+ ''Parler de la pluie et du beau temps'' “to talk about nothing in particular” goes back to Madame de Sévigné, and ''ennuyeux comme la pluie'' to Littré's time (1864); ''ne pas être né de la dernière pluie'' is 20th-century.^(GLLF 1989) French in the tropics has its own uses: ''saison des pluies'', and in sub-Saharan Africa ''pluie des mangues'', a dry-season shower.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Pluie'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1342 – ''Petite pluie abat grand vent'', Machaut.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1550 – Tears, Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1555 – ''Pluie d'œillets et de lys'', Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1622 – The derivative ''parapluie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1864 – ''Ennuyeux comme la pluie''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|rain]]: ''la pluie tombe'', ''sous la pluie'', ''pluie fine'', ''pluie battante''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fall of rain, shower: ''la saison des pluies'', ''pluies acides''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A shower, hail (of things): ''une pluie de coups'', ''de cadeaux''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Parler de la pluie et du beau temps'': to make small talk, ''faire la pluie et le beau temps'', to call the shots.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[parapluie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pluvial]]

+ * [[pluvieux]]

+ * [[pluvio-]]

+ * [[pluviosité]]

+ * [[pleuvoir]]

+ * [[la|pluvia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}