dormir French · revision 17449

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la dormiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɔʁ.miʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dormir'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|dormir]], [[inh|la|dormiō|t=to sleep]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 140a)^(Wiktionary) Rey traces the Latin verb to a root “*der-” known only in extended forms in other Indo-European languages, as in [[grc|δαρθάνω|tr=darthánō|t=to sleep]], Wiktionary gives [[ine-pro|*drem-|t=to sleep]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Another root of related meaning survives in Latin [[m|la|somnus|t=sleep]] (see [[somme]]) and [[m|la|sōpiō|t=to put to sleep]].^(DHLF 1992) The present “je dors, tu dors, il dort” follows the Latin “dórmiō, dórmis, dórmit”, stressed on the root.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|dormire]], [[oc|dormir]] and [[es|dormir]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100), often reflexive as other intransitive verbs were in Old French: ''Charles se dort, li empereres riches'' “Charles sleeps, the mighty emperor”, ''or se dorment li Franc'' “now the Franks sleep”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figuratively it meant “to stay idle” from 1409 (the chronicle of Boucicaut) and, of nature, “to lie still” from Ronsard (1559: ''les bois dorment sans bruit''); still water too was said to sleep, whence ''eau dormante'' (1112).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The present participle ''dormant'' also qualified a fixed object (1366), as the standing part of a rope at sea (1678).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Furetière's dictionary (1690) gathers many proverbs and phrases, such as ''dormir debout'', ''qui dort dîne'' and comparisons like ''dormir comme un loir'', ''ne dormir que d'un œil'' expands an older ''ne dormir de l'œil''.^(DHLF 1992) ''La Belle au bois dormant'' is the title of Perrault's tale.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1112 – ''Eau dormante''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Dormir'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – The noun ''dormeur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1409 – “To stay idle”, in the chronicle of Boucicaut.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – Ronsard writes that the woods sleep.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Furetière records ''dormir debout'' and ''qui dort dîne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|sleep]], be asleep: ''dormir comme un loir'', ''dormir à poings fermés''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To spend the night, [[m|en|lodge]]: ''dormir à l'hôtel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To be idle or [[m|en|inactive]]: ''laisser dormir une affaire''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of things, to be still or quiet: ''l'eau dort''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Dormir debout'': to be dropping with sleep, ''une histoire à dormir debout'', an unbelievable story.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dormeur]]

+ * [[redormir]]

+ * [[dormant]]

+ * [[endormir]]

+ * [[dortoir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[somme]]

+ * [[la|dormiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}