noir French · revision 17483

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''noir''' (feminine noire, masculine plural noirs, feminine plural noires)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''neir'' (1080), ''noir'' (about 1160).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|neir]], [[inh|la|niger|t=black, dark; ill-omened]] (accusative “nigrum”).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|7, 130a)^(Wiktionary) Latin “niger”, the counterpart of [[grc|μέλας|tr=mélas]], has no known etymology, and there is no common Indo-European word for “black”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|negru]], [[it|nero]], [[oc|negre]], [[ca|negre]], [[es|negro]] and [[pt|negro]]; [[nègre]], from Spanish or Portuguese, is its doublet.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1100 the ''Chanson de Roland'' uses ''neir'' both for the colour and for people with dark skin: ''la neire gent''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1120 it meant “dark, without light”, whence ''il fait noir'' (before 1350), ''chambre noire'' (1758) and ''cabinet noir'' (1835).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It also marked what is darker of its kind: ''pain noir'' (1343), ''savon noir'' (1530), ''bile noire'' and ''humeur noire'' (1604).^(TLFi) Mourning clothes are ''noires'' from about 1393.^(TLFi)

+

+ Moral senses date from the 12th century: “wicked” (about 1120), “sad” (1160–74), then ''bête noire'' (1750), ''roman noir'' (1816), ''messe noire'' (1857–67), ''humour noir'' (1939) and, of the hidden or illegal, ''caisse noire'' (1882) and ''marché noir'' (1941).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Broyer du noir'' is found in 1756, ''un petit noir'' “a black coffee” in 1867, and the slang ''noir'' “drunk” in 1898.^(BHVF)^(TLFi) As a noun, ''un Noir'' is recorded from 1556.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Neir'' and ''la neire gent'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1120 – “Dark, without light”, in the ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – The form ''noir'' in ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1546 – ''Les yeux au beurre noir'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1556 – ''Un Noir'', a Black person.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1750 – ''Bête noire''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1756 – ''Broyer du noir''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1867 – ''Un petit noir'', a coffee.^(TLFi)

+ * 1941 – ''Marché noir''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|black]]: of the darkest colour: ''des cheveux noirs''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Dark, without light: ''il fait noir'', ''nuit noire''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Dark of its kind: ''raisin noir'', ''pain noir''; dirty: ''noir de crasse''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # Of Black people: ''la musique noire''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Gloomy, sad: ''idées noires''; wicked: ''une âme noire''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Illegal, hidden: ''marché noir'', ''travail au noir''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' [[m|en|drunk]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Black, the colour; black clothing worn for mourning.^(TLFi)

+ # Darkness: ''avoir peur du noir''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Un Noir'', ''une Noire'': a Black person.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Un petit noir'': a cup of black coffee.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[noirâtre]]

+ * [[noiraud]]

+ * [[noirceur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[noircir]]

+ * [[nègre]]

+ * [[la|niger]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}