loin French · revision 17458

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lwɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''loin'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''luinz'', ''loinz'', ''luign'', ''loing''; the final ''-z'' may reflect a Latin ''*longis''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|loing]], [[inh|la|longē|t=far, far off; by far]], from [[m|la|longus|t=long]], whence [[long]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 401b)^(Wiktionary) With a verb of difference, Latin “longē” also meant “by far”.^(TLFi)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lungi]], [[oc|luenh]], [[ca|lluny]] and archaic [[es|lueñe]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1050 the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' has ''an luinz'' “into the distance”: ''E tantes feiz pur tei an luinz guardét'' “and so often I looked far away for you”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Loin de'' and ''ne loinz ne près'' are in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100), and ''de loin'' in Philippe de Thaon (1119).^(TLFi) The temporal sense, “long ago”, appears about 1225.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''De loin en loin'' goes back to Old French ''luinz a luinz'' (1119); its temporal use dates from 1620.^(TLFi)

+

+ From the 17th century ''loin'' was used abstractly: ''voir de loin'' (1640), ''aller trop loin'' (1661), ''revenir de loin'' (1672), ''loin de moi l'idée de''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) ''Loin de'' with an infinitive meant “instead of” in Corneille (1640), and ''loin que'' with the subjunctive is in Molière (1666).^(TLFi) In Swiss French ''être loin'' means “to be away”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

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

+ * 1119 – ''De luinz'' and ''luinz a luinz'' in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – The temporal sense.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – ''Il y a loin d'ici à''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''Voir de loin''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – ''Revenir de loin''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1762 – ''De loin en loin''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|far]], far away: ''habiter loin'', ''plus loin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Far off in time: ''c'est loin tout cela''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''Loin de'': far from, ''loin de là'': far from it, ''loin de moi l'idée de'': far be it from me.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''De loin'': from afar; by far: ''de loin le meilleur''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Aller loin'': to go far, succeed, ''aller trop loin'': to go too far.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''De loin en loin'': here and there; now and then.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[éloigner]]

+ * [[éloignement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lointain]]

+ * [[long]]

+ * [[la|longē]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}