été French · revision 17179

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''été''' ''m'' (plural étés)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''ested'', ''estet'' (about 1100), ''esté'' (about 1140); ''été'' from the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|esté]], [[inh|la|aestās|t=summer]], from its accusative “aestātem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|24, 229b)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word seems to come by haplology from “*aestitās” and belongs to the root “*aidh-” “to burn” (Wiktionary's [[ine-pro|*h₂eydʰ-]]), as do [[m|la|aestus|t=heat]] and the words behind [[édifier]], [[estuaire]] and [[éther]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun was feminine, French made it masculine, probably after [[printemps]] and the other names of seasons.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ “Été” prevails in the north of Gallo-Romance; south of a line from the Gironde estuary to the Hautes-Alpes the dialects have “estiou”, [[pro|estiu]], from popular Latin [[la-vul|*aestīvum]] (“tempus”), like [[es|estío]] and [[pt|estio]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Compare [[it|estate]] and [[ca|estiu]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it is the season of summer: ''Ço est en mai, al premer jur d'ested'' “it is in May, on the first day of summer”, and ''blancs cume flur en estet'' “white as a flower in summer”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''L'été de la Saint-Martin'' (1721, ''été Saint-Martin'', 1611) is a spell of fine weather in autumn; in Quebec a similar period is ''l'été des Indiens'' (1924) or ''l'été indien'', formerly ''été des sauvages'' (1878).^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively, in a literary and somewhat archaic style, it is the prime of life (''l'été de la vie''), isolated in the 16th century and then from the 18th.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1140 – ''Esté'', Gaimar.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Été Saint-Martin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 17th century – Spelt ''été''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1878 – ''Été des sauvages'' in Canada.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1924 – ''Été des Indiens''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|summer]], the season between spring and autumn, from the June [[m|en|solstice]] to the September [[m|en|equinox]] in the northern hemisphere: ''en été'', ''vacances d'été''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''L'été de la Saint-Martin'', ''(Quebec)'' ''l'été indien'': a spell of fine weather in autumn, an [[m|en|Indian summer]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' The prime of life: ''l'été de la vie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[estival]]

+ * [[estivant]]

+ * [[estiver]]

+ * [[la|aestās]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Été'' is also the past participle of [[être]], which Littré gives a separate article; it has nothing to do with the season.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}