moindre French · revision 17145

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 12th century, Voyage de saint Brendan (meindres)|origins=la minor}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''moindre''' (comparative of ''petit'')^(Larousse)

+ Old French ''meindre'', ''mendre'', ''menre'', ''manre'', ''moindre'' about 1360 (Froissart).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the Old French nominative “meindre”, [[inh|la|minor|t=smaller, less]], the comparative of [[m|la|parvus|t=small]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/2, 123a) The accusative “minōrem” gave the oblique case “meneur”, but by the end of the 12th century “meindre”, “mendre” was used in all cases and drove “meneur” out; [[mineur]] is a later borrowing of the same Latin word.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) Littré relates “minor” to [[m|la|minuō|t=to lessen]] and [[grc|μινύθω|tr=minúthō]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[it|minore]], [[pro|menre]], [[ca|menor]], [[es|menor]] and [[pt|menor]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Voyage de saint Brendan'' (early 12th century) ''meindres'' means smaller in intensity: ''ne fust meindres Icist perilz'' “this danger would not have been smaller”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French it could mean younger (Philippe de Thaon, 1119), smaller in size (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1170: ''De toz nains fu Bylis li mendres'' “Bilis was the smallest of all dwarfs”) and lower in rank (13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The proverb ''des dous maus le mendre eslisum'' “of two evils let us choose the lesser” is about 1225.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From 1215 ''le moindre'' served as the relative superlative of ''petit''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The old sense “of small worth” survives in ''et non des moindres'' (1280, ''qui ne sont mie ore des menres'').^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 12th century – ''Meindres'', ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1119 – “Younger”, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – Smaller in size, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1215 – ''Le moindre'', superlative.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1225 – ''Des dous maus le mendre''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1360 – The form ''moindre'', Froissart.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lesser, smaller, lower (comparative of ''petit''): ''un moindre mal'', ''à moindres frais'', ''de moindre qualité''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Le moindre'': the least, the slightest: ''le moindre effort'', ''c'est la moindre des choses'', ''pas le moindre doute''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(dated)'' Inferior in rank or merit, ''et non des moindres'', and not the least of them.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amoindrir]]

+ * [[amoindrissement]]

+ * [[moindrement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mineur]]

+ * [[moins]]

+ * [[petit]]

+ * [[la|minor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}