blanc French · revision 17454

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 950|origins=gmw-pro *blank}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (France): /blɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /blã/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''blanc''' (feminine blanche, masculine plural blancs, feminine plural blanches)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|gmw-pro|*blank|t=shining, bright]], a West Germanic adjective reconstructed from [[goh|blanc|t=shining, white]], [[non|blakkr|t=pale]] and Old English “blanca”, a noun meaning “white horse”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/1, 138b) Wiktionary takes it through [[frk|*blank]] and [[m|la-med|blancus]] to [[gem-pro|*blankaz|t=bright, shining]].^(Wiktionary) Rey, however, notes that the word passed straight into Occitan, Italian and Catalan as well, so that its spread rules out a strictly Frankish origin; he suggests that it was used, like other colour words of the same origin (“brun”, “fauve”, “gris”), by Germanic soldiers for the coat of horses.^(DHLF 1992) The further origin of the Germanic word is obscure: a nasalized form of the verb seen in [[osx|blīkan|t=to shine]] has been proposed, but the intermediate forms are missing.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The Germanic word displaced [[la|albus|t=dull white]], which survives in French only in compounds such as [[aubépine]], and [[m|la|candidus|t=bright white]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|bianco]], [[pro|blanc]] and [[ca|blanc]]; [[es|blanco]] and [[pt|branco]] were borrowed from French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is recorded about 950; in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it describes mules, Charlemagne's white beard (''chenuz et blancs'') and a gleaming shield.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original sense “shining”, used in Old French of weapons and metal (1080), has almost disappeared except in ''armes blanches'' (1690), first armour that was neither bronzed nor gilded, then (1694) bladed weapons as opposed to firearms.^(DHLF 1992) Of clothing it named those dressed in white, as the ''frères blancs'' (1174), the Cistercian monks.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ From “white” the sense moved towards “colourless” and “empty”: blank paper, a ''chèque en blanc'', ''en blanc'' “without writing”, ''tirer à blanc'' with a blank cartridge.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF) As a noun ''le blanc'' is the colour, white clothing, white paint, the white of an egg (''blanc d'œuf'', 15th century), a blank space or gap, and familiarly white wine, ''un Blanc'' is a white person.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse) English ''blank'' (about 1325) was borrowed from French.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 950 – First record.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Blanc'' of mules, hair and a shining shield in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1174 – ''Frères blancs'', white-robed monks.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 15th century – ''Blanc d'œuf'' “egg white”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – ''Armes blanches''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1694 – ''Arme blanche'' of a bladed weapon.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|white]], of the colour of snow or milk.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Pale, [[m|en|wan]]: ''blanc d'émotion''; white-haired.^(Larousse)

+ # Of or relating to white people: ''une chanteuse de jazz blanche''.^(Larousse)

+ # [[m|en|blank]], without writing: ''page blanche'', ''voter blanc''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Arme blanche'': a bladed weapon.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour white; white clothing: ''se marier en blanc''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A white colouring matter or paint: ''blanc de zinc''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The white part of something: ''blanc d'œuf'', ''blanc de poulet''.^(Larousse)

+ # A blank space in a text or form; a [[m|en|silence]] or gap in a conversation.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A glass of white [[m|en|wine]].^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Un Blanc, une Blanche'': a white person.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[blancheur]]

+ * [[blanchir]]

+ * [[blanchaille]]

+ * [[blanchâtre]]

+ * [[blanchisserie]]

+ * [[blanchisseur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aube]]

+ * [[candide]]

+ * [[en|blank]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}