presque French · revision 17447

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1165 (pres que); c. 1265 (presque)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁɛsk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''presque'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|près|que]]: Old French “près” already meant “almost” (early 12th century, Benedeit, “a bien près” 1130–1140), and the phrase “pres que” (about 1165) was at first “près” with the relative pronoun “que”, “nearly what”, then with the conjunction “que” of consequence, followed by “ne”: ''pres qu'il ne chiet'' “he nearly falls”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|9, 366b) The two parts were welded into one word in the 13th century (about 1265, Jean de Meun).^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary compares [[it|pressoché]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''A bien près'' “almost” is in Wace (1130–1140), and ''bien pres que … ne'' in ''Guillaume d'Angleterre'' (about 1165); ''pres que'' as one adverb is found in the early 13th century (''Por ce que je sui pres que nue'', Gautier de Coinci, about 1223).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adverb became independent in the 13th century, used before an adjective or an adverb and after a verb; in poetry it could be spelled ''presques'' until the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992) From 1559 it was followed by a preposition (''presqu'en même temps''), and ''presque isle'' (1544), modelled on [[la|paenīnsula]], became [[presqu'île]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ From the late 18th century it has been used almost like a prefix before a noun, as ''un presque démenti'' (1779, Rétif de la Bretonne) and ''la presque unanimité'' (1791).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The elliptical ''mais presque !'' (1886) and ''ou presque'' (1907) correct a statement without cancelling it.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1130–1140 – ''A bien près'' “almost”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – ''Bien pres que … ne''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – Written as one word, in Jean de Meun.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1393 – ''Presque cuite'' in the ''Ménagier de Paris''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1544 – ''Presque isle'', later ''presqu'île''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1779 – ''Un presque démenti'', in Rétif de la Bretonne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1791 – ''La presque unanimité''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1907 – ''Ou presque''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|almost]], nearly, not quite: ''presque toujours'', ''presque personne''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Before a noun: near-, all but: ''la presque totalité''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Ou presque'': or very nearly.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[près]]

+ * [[presqu'île]]

+ * [[quasi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The final ⟨e⟩ is elided only in ''presqu'île''; elsewhere one writes ''presque à'', ''presque entier''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}