long French · revision 17480

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la longus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /lɔ̃.k‿/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /lɔ̃.ɡ‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''long''' (feminine longue, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longues)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''lonc'', feminine ''longe''; the feminine ''longue'' replaced ''longe'' in the 12th century, and the masculine ''long'' was remade from it in the 14th.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|lonc]], [[inh|la|longus|t=long, extended]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 406b)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word, used of both space and time like [[grc|μακρός|tr=makrós]], is related to [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃|tr=laggs|t=long]] but has no counterpart in the eastern Indo-European languages.^(DHLF 1992) Littré found its further etymology obscure.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The old feminine “longe” survives as the noun [[longe]] “halter”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Cognate with [[ro|lung]], [[it|lungo]], [[oc|long]], [[pt|longo]] and [[en|long]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the second half of the 10th century the ''Vie de saint Léger'' uses it of time, “lasting a long while”; the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''lunga atente'' “a long, wearisome wait”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spatial sense, “of great length”, is in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100), which also says of a voice ''mult lunge'', “carrying far”.^(TLFi) Long hair or beards appear about 1160, and long speeches about 1150.^(TLFi) In grammar it qualified vowels and syllables from the 14th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun, ''set piez de lonc'' “seven feet long” is in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–81); ''de son long'' dates from 1464, ''à la longue'' from about 1260 and ''en long et en large'' from 1676, continuing Old French ''en lonc ou en lé'' (1230).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The adverb ''en savoir long'' is from before 1707.^(TLFi) In African and Middle Eastern French ''long'' also means “tall” of a person.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – Temporal use in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

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

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

+ * 12th century – The feminine ''longue'' replaces ''longe''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1260 – ''À la longue''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1464 – ''De son long''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1676 – ''En long et en large'' in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1811 – ''De long en large''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|long]]: of great length: ''une longue tige'', ''une robe longue''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Of a given length: ''long de cent mètres''.^(TLFi)^(Larousse)

+ # Lasting a long time: ''un long voyage''; tedious: ''le temps paraît long''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Slow: ''long à comprendre''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' Long, of a vowel or syllable.^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|length]]: ''trois mètres de long'', ''tomber de tout son long''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Le long de'': along, ''de long en large'': up and down.^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''En dire long'', ''en savoir long'': to say or know a great deal.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[longer]]

+ * [[longuet]]

+ * [[longueur]]

+ * [[allonger]]

+ * [[longtemps]]

+ * [[longue-vue]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[longe]]

+ * [[loin]]

+ * [[longitude]]

+ * [[la|longus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}