lit French · revision 17413

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=ine-pro *legʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /li/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [li]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [lit]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lit''' ''m'' (plural lits)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|lit]], [[inh|la|lectus|t=bed; couch; marriage bed]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 236a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word belongs to an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*legʰ-|t=to lie down]], seen in [[grc|λέχος|tr=lékhos|t=bed]], [[de|liegen]], [[de|legen]] and [[en|lie]], but missing in Indo-Iranian and Armenian, Latin kept no verb from it, using [[m|la|cubō|t=to lie]] instead.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|letto]], [[oc|leit]], [[ca|llit]], [[es|lecho]] and [[pt|leito]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', meaning a piece of furniture for sleeping.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1318 ''lit'' named the canopy under which the king sat in the Parlement, whence ''lit de justice'' (1377), then the solemn sitting itself (about 1470).^(TLFi) By 1486 it also meant marriage, as in ''enfants du premier lit''.^(TLFi) About 1200 it was a hunting term, about 1265 (Brunetto Latini) the bed of a river, in 1306 (Joinville) a horizontal layer, and at sea ''le lit du vent'' (1573).^(TLFi)

+

+ Phrases name kinds of bed: ''lit de camp'' (15th century), ''lit de douleur'' (17th century, after ''lit de sa douleur'', about 1120), ''lits jumeaux'' (1755) and ''lit double'' (1845); in Quebec a ''lit simple'' is a single bed.^(DHLF 1992) English ''litter'' comes from French ''litière''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1200 – A hunting term, in ''Garin le Lorrain''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – The bed of a river, in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1306 – A layer, in Joinville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1377 – ''Lit de justice''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1486 – Marriage.^(TLFi)

+ * 1755 – ''Lits jumeaux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1834 – ''Literie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bed]]: ''aller au lit'', ''garder le lit'', ''faire son lit''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Marriage: ''un enfant du premier lit''.^(TLFi)

+ # The bed of a river: ''la rivière est sortie de son lit''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A layer: ''un lit de sable''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(history)'' ''Lit de justice'': a solemn sitting of the Parlement in the king's presence.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wagon-lit]]

+ * [[litée]]

+ * [[literie]]

+ * [[aliter]]

+ * [[déliter]]

+ * [[litière]]

+ * [[châlit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[litage]]

+ * [[la|lectus]]

+ * [[en|litter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}