image French · revision 17279

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (imagine)|origins=la imāgō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.maʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''image''' ''f'' (plural images)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|imagene]], [[m|fro|imagine]] (about 1050), remade as ''image'' about 1160; also ''ymage''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|imāgō|t=likeness, portrait; image of the dead; copy; comparison]], from the accusative “imāginem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|4, 564b) Rey and the Petit Robert relate it to a root “im-” of obscure origin, also in [[m|la|imitor|t=to imitate]] (compare [[imiter]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré notes that, had it been inherited, it would have had another form.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|imagine]], [[it|immagine]], [[oc|imatge]], [[es|imagen]] and [[pt|imagem]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first sense, in the ''Life of Saint Alexis'' (about 1050), is a statue; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''une imagene Apolin'', an idol of Apollo.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century it meant a vision in a dream (''Eneas'', about 1160) and any pictorial representation (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176), whence ''sage comme une image'' (Sévigné, 1674) and ''image d'Épinal'' (1873).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) ''À l'image de'' “in the likeness of” is in the ''Jeu d'Adam'' (about 1180), and Marie de France (1180) has the reflection in a polished surface.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Brunetto Latini (about 1265) used it as a figure of speech, an analogy (''par ymage u par comparison''), and, from 1550 it meant the visible symbol of something abstract.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From Descartes (1647) it became a key word of psychology, a mental representation, at first used interchangeably with ''idée''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Photography (''images daguerriennes'', 1843), film and television extended it to every kind of reproduced picture, and to the public image of a person or brand (''image de marque'').^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Imagine'' “statue”, ''Life of Saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – A vision in a dream, ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – A picture, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1180 – A reflection, Marie de France.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – A figure of speech, Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1647 – A mental image, Descartes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1674 – ''Sage comme une image'', Madame de Sévigné.^(BHVF)

+ * 1843 – A photographic image.^(TLFi)

+ * 1873 – ''Image d'Épinal''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|picture]], illustration, print: ''un livre d'images'', ''image d'Épinal'', a naive, idealized picture.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A [[m|en|reflection]]: ''voir son image dans une glace''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(optics, photography, television)'' An image; a frame: ''arrêt sur image''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A mental picture, representation: ''l'image qu'il garde de son père''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A likeness: ''à l'image de'', ''c'est l'image de son père''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # A figure of speech, metaphor: ''un style plein d'images''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Public image: ''image de marque''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Sage comme une image'': as good as gold.^(BHVF)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[imager]]

+ * [[imagerie]]

+ * [[imagier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[imaginer]]

+ * [[imagination]]

+ * [[imaginaire]]

+ * [[imiter]]

+ * [[la|imāgō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}