assez French · revision 17484

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century (asez)|origins=la satis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.se/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /a.se.z‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''assez'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''asez'', also ''adsates'', ''asats''; the spelling ''assez'' won in the 14th and 15th centuries.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|asez]], [[inh|la-vul|*ad satis]], a strengthened form of [[la|satis|t=enough]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|24, 183b)^(Wiktionary) Latin “satis” was used for “much” from early Latin, and very often in Late Latin, which explains the Old French sense “much”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) The simple Latin word survived only in Old French “sez” “what is enough”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|assai|t=very]], [[oc|assatz]], [[pt|assaz]] and [[es|asaz]].^(Wiktionary)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) The same Latin family gave [[satiété]], [[satisfaire]] and [[rassasier]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found at the end of the 10th century as ''asez''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it still means “much, many”: ''Baptizét sunt asez plus de cent mille'' “well over a hundred thousand are baptised”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its meaning moved from “much” (11th to 16th century) to “enough, as much as needed” (12th century).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) ''Avoir assez'' dates from about 1200, ''c'est assez'' from 1538.^(DHLF 1992) In the 17th century it took the weakened sense “rather, fairly” and the classical sense “too much”, now archaic.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The exclamation ''assez !'' “that will do!” is in Corneille (1661), and ''en avoir assez'', expressing weariness, dates from the 19th and 20th centuries.^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec ''assez de'' can mean “a lot of, too much”; in Belgium ''assez'' may follow the adjective (''gentil assez''); in Switzerland it means “surely, readily”, a calque of the patois ''prao''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Asez''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Asez'' “many” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 12th century – The sense “enough”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Avoir assez''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – ''C'est assez''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1661 – ''Assez !'' in Corneille.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1834 – Swiss ''assez'' “surely” in Töpffer.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|enough]], sufficiently: ''assez grand'', ''avoir assez mangé''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Assez de'': enough: ''assez d'argent''.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # Rather, fairly: ''j'aime assez ce vin''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''En avoir assez'': to be fed up, ''assez !'', that's enough!^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' Very, so: ''il est assez fin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[satiété]]

+ * [[rassasier]]

+ * [[it|assai]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}