os French · revision 17538

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (singular): /ɔs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (plural): /o/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''os''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|os]], [[inh|la|ossum|t=bone]], a popular variant of classical [[m|la|os|t=bone]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|7, 426b) Littré notes that an Old French feminine plural continued the Latin neuter plural.^(Littré 1873) The Latin word is the Indo-European name of the bone, also seen in [[grc|ὀστέον|tr=ostéon]] and [[sa|अस्थि|tr=ásthi]];^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary gives [[ine-pro|*h₃ésth₁]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|osso]], [[es|hueso]] and [[oc|os]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it is a bone of the skeleton: a blow ''tranche le pis, si li brise les os''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1200 ''les os'' were the remains of the dead.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Chrétien de Troyes (1176) has it for worked bone as a material, used for objects since prehistory.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Many phrases date from the 17th century: ''se rompre les os'' (1606), ''mouillé jusqu'à l'os'' (1609), ''il ne fera jamais vieux os'' (1640), ''n'avoir que la peau sur les os'' (Racine, 1668), from the much older ''n'avoir que la pel et l'os'' (1188), and ''donner un os à ronger'' (1680).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Slang gave ''avoir de l'os'' “to have money” (1851), ''tomber sur un os'' “to hit a snag” (1914) and ''l'avoir dans l'os'' “to be had” (1946–1948).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The cuttlebone, ''os de seiche'', is from 1616.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 1176 – Bone as a material, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1188 – ''Il n'avoit que la pel et l'os''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1606 – ''Rompre les os''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''Il ne fera jamais vieux os''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – ''Donner un os à ronger'', in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1914 – ''Tomber sur un os''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bone|alt=bone]]: ''les os du pied'', ''os long, os plat''.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Bone as a material: ''un manche en os''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''Les os'': the mortal remains: ''y laisser ses os'', to die there.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''N'avoir que la peau sur les os'': to be skin and bone, ''trempé jusqu'aux os'', soaked to the skin.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Ne pas faire de vieux os'': not to live long; not to stay long.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|snag]], difficulty: ''tomber sur un os''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Os de seiche'': [[m|en|cuttlebone]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ossature]]

+ * [[osseux]]

+ * [[ossifier]]

+ * [[ossuaire]]

+ * [[osselet]]

+ * [[désosser]]

+ * [[suros]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ossement]]

+ * [[ostéo-]]

+ * [[la|os]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The singular is pronounced /ɔs/ and the plural /o/; in the 18th century /o/ was used for both, and the /s/ of the singular was restored in the 19th century.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}