terre French · revision 17472

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont (terra)|origins=la terra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Europe): /tɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): [taɛ̯ʁ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [tæ(ɾ)]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terre''' ''f'' (plural terres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|terre]], [[inh|la|terra|t=earth, land, ground]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|13/1, 244a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word is found only in Italic and Celtic (Old Irish and Welsh “tír” “land”), and Rey derives it from a reconstructed “*ters-”, also behind [[torrent]], Wiktionary and Littré connect it with [[ine-pro|*ters-|t=dry]], as in [[grc|τέρσομαι|tr=térsomai|t=to dry up]], the earth being “the dry land”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) The old Indo-European word for earth survives in Latin [[m|la|humus]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|țară|t=country]], [[it|terra]], [[oc|terra]], [[ca|terra]], [[es|tierra]] and [[pt|terra]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 980 the ''Passion'' of Clermont uses ''terra'' for the world where people live, for the surface of the ground (''a terra'' “on the ground”) and for the earth's crust.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1050 the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' has ''prendre terre'' “to land”, ''terre'' “country, territory” and “landed estate”, and ''metre an terre'' “to bury”.^(TLFi) About 1100 ''terre gaste'' was waste land, and about 1145 ''terre'' was one of the four elements.^(TLFi) The people of the earth are ''la terre'' from the early 12th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Terre sainte'' dates from about 1208, ''terre cuite'' from 1536, ''terre ferme'' from 1539 and ''armée de terre'' from 1671.^(TLFi) The adjective ''terre à terre'' was first said of a horse moving in low leaps (1611), and figuratively “prosaic” from 1691.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Since Copernicus the Earth has been a planet, ''la Terre'', almost a proper name.^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec ''une terre'' is a farm.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Terra'' in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Prendre terre'' and ''metre an terre'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1145 – ''Terre'', one of the four elements, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1208 – ''Terre sainte'' in Villehardouin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1536 – ''Terre cuite''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1539 – ''Terre ferme''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1691 – ''Terre à terre'' “prosaic”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1924 – ''Prise de terre'', an electrical earth.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''La Terre'': the Earth, the planet; the world of humankind.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The ground: ''tomber par terre'', ''à terre''.^(TLFi)^(Le Robert)

+ # [[m|en|soil]], earth: ''de la terre végétale'', ''terre cuite''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # Dry land, as opposed to the sea: ''toucher terre'', ''armée de terre''.^(TLFi)

+ # A country, region: ''terre natale'', ''la Terre sainte''.^(TLFi)

+ # An estate, landed property: ''acheter une terre''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(electricity)'' [[m|en|ground]], earth: ''prise de terre''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[atterrir]]

+ * [[atterrissage]]

+ * [[atterrissement]]

+ * [[atterrisseur]]

+ * [[terraqué]]

+ * [[terreau]]

+ * [[terrer]]

+ * [[terrestre]]

+ * [[terrien]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enterrer]]

+ * [[terrain]]

+ * [[terrarium]]

+ * [[terrasse]]

+ * [[terreux]]

+ * [[terricole]]

+ * [[terrier]]

+ * [[terrine]]

+ * [[territoire]]

+ * [[terroir]]

+ * [[la|terra]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}