mauvais French · revision 17396

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (malveise)|origins=la malus, la fātum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mo.vɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mɔ.vɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mauvais''' (feminine mauvaise, masculine plural mauvais, feminine plural mauvaises, comparative pire, superlative le pire)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|malveis]] (1050), ''malvais'' (1080), ''mauvais'' (about 1160); a shortened form ''maes'', ''mais'' (about 1190) survives in Walloon and Picard.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|malvais]], [[inh|la-lat|malifātius|t=ill-fated, unfortunate]], found in an inscription from AD 23, from [[m|la|malum|t=bad]], the neuter of [[m|la|malus]], and [[m|la|fātum|t=oracle, destiny]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 95b)^(Wiktionary) It is the opposite of “bonifatius” “fortunate”, the source of the name [[Boniface]], and parallels Greek “kakómoiros” and “eúmoiros”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Its sense developed like that of [[méchant]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Diez derived it from [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌰𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌴𐌹|tr=balwawēsei|t=wickedness]], with “b” changed to “m” under the influence of “mal”, Littré found this very probable, but the modern dictionaries follow the Latin etymology.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|malvatz]]; [[it|malvagio]] comes from Gallo-Romance, and [[es|malvado]] from the Occitan variant “malvat”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (''malveise guarde'' “poor watch”), meaning “not as it should be, defective”; in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it already means “unlucky, ill-omened” and “harmful”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word had nearly all its modern senses before the 14th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The etymological sense “unfortunate” lives on in ''en mauvaise posture'' and ''de mauvais augure'' (1671).^(DHLF 1992) From the first texts it also meant “harmful, ill-disposed”: ''mauvaise volonté'' (about 1200), ''mauvaise vie'' (about 1274), ''femme de mauvaise vie'' (1690).^(DHLF 1992) Of things it meant “defective, worn” (about 1200), “of poor quality” (1320), and of weather ''mauvais temps'' (1538).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In the sense “morally bad” it competes with ''méchant'', which is stronger.^(Grand Robert 2005) Used as an adverb it appears in ''sentir mauvais'' and ''il fait mauvais''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Malveise'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Malvais'' “ill-omened” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – The adverb ''malvaisement''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Mauvaise volonté''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1320 – Of goods, “of poor quality”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Mauvais temps''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – ''De mauvais augure''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|bad]], poor in quality: ''un mauvais livre'', ''une mauvaise route''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # [[m|en|wrong]], incorrect: ''la mauvaise réponse''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # Unpleasant, disagreeable: ''une mauvaise odeur'', ''mauvais temps''.^(Littré 1873)^(Larousse)

+ # Harmful, [[m|en|unfavourable]]: ''une mauvaise nouvelle'', ''mauvais pour la santé''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Wicked, malicious: ''un mauvais sujet'', ''mauvaise foi''.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Lacking skill: ''un mauvais élève''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''Sentir mauvais'': to [[m|en|smell]] bad, ''il fait mauvais'': the weather is bad.^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # What is bad: ''il y a du bon et du mauvais''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mauvaisement]]

+ * [[mauvaiseté]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mal]]

+ * [[méchant]]

+ * [[fée]]

+ * [[la|malifātius]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The comparative is ''plus mauvais'' or [[pire]], the superlative ''le plus mauvais'' or ''le pire''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}