semaine French · revision 17405

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (samaine)|origins=la septem}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sə.mɛn/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (informal): /smɛn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''semaine''' ''f'' (plural semaines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|samaine]] (about 1050), ''semaine'' from 1119; the Latinizing spelling ''sepmaine'' was used in the 16th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ Anglo-Norman had many spellings, such as ''semaigne'', ''semeine'' and ''semayne''.^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|samaine]], [[inh|la-lat|septimāna|t=week]], a word of Church Latin (4th century), the feminine of [[la|septimānus|t=of the number seven]] used as a noun, “septimānus” is derived from [[m|la|septem|t=seven]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|11, 482a) The Latin word was modelled on [[grc|ἑβδομάς|tr=hebdomás|t=the number seven; week]] of the Greek Church, from [[m|grc|ἕβδομος|tr=hébdomos|t=seventh]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The Church Latin borrowing “hebdomada” survives only in some Romansh and Italian dialects.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|settimana]], [[oc|setmana]], [[ca|setmana]], [[es|semana]], [[pt|semana]] and [[ro|săptămână]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''samaine'' about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', meaning the seven-day period from Monday to Sunday that ordered religious life.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 12th century the word was used of any period of seven days, whatever day it began on.^(DHLF 1992) Many phrases followed: ''semaine peneuse'' was the week before Easter, later ''grande semaine'' (1608) and ''semaine sainte'' (1680).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) ''La semaine des trois jeudis'' “never” is recorded by Oudin in 1640 and became ''la semaine des quatre jeudis'' in the 19th century.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ By metonymy it meant a week's wages (1552, ''sepmaine''), a duty performed for a week (''être de semaine'', 1694), and a child's weekly pocket money (1798).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) ''Prêter à la petite semaine'' “to lend short-term at a high rate” dates from 1740; from it comes ''à la petite semaine'' “without planning ahead” (1855).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(BHVF) With the sense “working days”, ''en semaine'' “on weekdays” is recorded in 1871, ''semaine anglaise'', the week with Saturday afternoon off, dates from 1911.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 1119 – The form ''semaine'', in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – A week's wages, in Gouberville's journal.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1640 – ''La semaine des trois jeudis'' “never”, in Oudin.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1680 – ''Semaine sainte'' “Holy Week”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1740 – ''Prêter à la petite semaine'', in the Académie dictionary.^(TLFi)

+ * 1871 – ''En semaine'' “on weekdays”, in Littré.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1911 – ''Semaine anglaise''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|week]], from Monday to Sunday: ''la semaine prochaine''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Any period of seven days: ''trois semaines de vacances''.^(Larousse)

+ # The working days, as opposed to the [[m|en|weekend]]: ''en semaine''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The weekly total of working hours: ''la semaine de 35 heures''.^(Larousse)

+ # A week's [[m|en|wages]]; a child's weekly pocket money.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A week devoted to an event or cause: ''la semaine du goût''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''À la petite semaine'': short-sightedly, from day to day.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' A [[m|en|menstrual]] period.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[semainier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sept]]

+ * [[hebdomadaire]]

+ * [[la|septimāna]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''La semaine des quatre jeudis'' “never” is still used, although Thursday is no longer the school holiday.^(DHLF 1992) Quebec says ''fin de semaine'' for the weekend.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}