face French · revision 17360

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1st half of the 12th century, Oxford Psalter|origins=la faciēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fas/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''face''' ''f'' (plural faces)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*facia|t=portrait]], from classical [[la|faciēs|t=form, appearance; face]], which is related to [[m|la|faciō|t=to make, do]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 355a)^(Wiktionary) The learned [[faciès]] is a doublet.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compare [[it|faccia]], [[pro|fassa]], [[es|haz]] and [[pt|face|t=cheek]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the first half of the 12th century in the Oxford Psalter, meaning the front of the human head.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the sense “face” it was displaced in nearly all of Gallo-Romance by [[figure]] and later ''visage''; it survives mainly in religious language (''la Sainte Face'') and in mocking phrases such as ''face de rat'', though in Canada it is still an ordinary word.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) ''Face à face'' dates from 1172–1176.^(TLFi)

+

+ About 1265 it meant the aspect under which a thing appears, and in 1370–1372 each side of a thing (Oresme); the front of a building (1552) passed to [[façade]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It is a geometry term from 1752, and the side of a coin bearing a head from 1819.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''En face'' is from 1534, ''faire face à l'ennemi'' from 1657 and ''faire face à une dépense'' from 1798.^(DHLF 1992) Derivatives include [[facette]] (12th century) and [[effacer]]; [[surface]] (1611) was modelled on Latin ''superficies''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1st half of the 12th century – “Face”, in the Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * 1172–1176 – ''Face à face''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – “Aspect”, in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370–1372 – “Side of a thing”, in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1534 – ''En face''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1657 – ''Faire face à l'ennemi''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1752 – A face in geometry.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1819 – The obverse of a coin, in Boiste.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' The [[m|en|face]]: ''la Sainte Face'', ''(Canada)'' the face in everyday use.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A side, [[m|en|surface]]: ''les faces d'un cube'', ''(mountaineering)'' a face.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+ # The obverse of a coin: ''pile ou face'' “heads or tails”.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # An aspect: ''changer la face du monde''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''En face'': opposite, ''en face de'': facing, ''face à'': facing, confronting.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Faire face à'': to face, cope with, ''perdre la face'': to lose face.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Face à face'': face to face; as a noun, a confrontation.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[facette]]

+ * [[effacer]]

+ * [[face-à-main]]

+ * [[surface]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aspect]]

+ * [[figure]]

+ * [[tête]]

+ * [[visage]]

+ * [[façade]]

+ * [[faciès]]

+ * [[facial]]

+ * [[la|faciēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}