leçon French · revision 17554

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1135, Couronnement de Louis|origins=la legō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lə.sɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''leçon''' ''f'' (plural leçons)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|lēctiō|t=gathering; reading; text]], from its accusative, a derivative of the supine of [[m|la|legō|t=to gather; to read]] (see [[lire]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 234a) Wiktionary notes that, according to the TLFi, the Old French word was an early borrowing, a semi-learned term.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg simply give the Latin accusative as its source.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[it|lezione]], [[es|lección]] and [[ca|lliçó]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first sense, in the ''Couronnement de Louis'' (about 1135), is liturgical: a text of Scripture or of the Fathers read or sung at the night offices, as in the later ''leçons de ténèbres''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Geoffrey Gaimar (about 1140) uses it for the reading of a text, and ''Eneas'' (about 1160) for the teaching given by a master.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) At the end of the 12th century it was what a pupil must learn and recite, today's usual sense;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''leçon particulière'', a private lesson, is in Flaubert (1845).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From the end of the 12th century it also meant a rule of conduct, or ironically a punishment (''Raoul de Cambrai'': ''t'aprenderoie ici pesme leçon'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Faire la leçon à quelqu'un'' passed from “to dictate someone's conduct” (Des Périers, 1558) to “to lecture, reprimand” (1690–1754).^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Molière (1668) has it for the lesson drawn from an event, and Richelet (1680) for the reading of a text in a given manuscript or edition, a variant.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1135 – A liturgical reading, in the ''Couronnement de Louis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1140 – The reading of a text, in Gaimar.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – A master's teaching, in ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 12th century – What a pupil must learn, in ''Floire et Blancheflor''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1558 – ''Faire la leçon à'', in Des Périers.^(BHVF)

+ * 1668 – The lesson of an event, in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – A textual variant, in Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – ''Leçon particulière'', in Flaubert.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lesson]]: what a pupil must learn: ''réviser ses leçons''.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A lesson given by a teacher: ''une leçon d'histoire'', ''leçon particulière'', ''leçon inaugurale'', an inaugural lecture.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A lesson drawn from experience; a warning.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Faire la leçon à quelqu'un'': to [[m|en|lecture]] someone, ''donner une leçon à quelqu'un'', to teach someone a lesson.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(liturgy)'' A [[m|en|lection]], a reading at matins: ''leçons de ténèbres''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(philology)'' A [[m|en|reading]], a variant in a manuscript or edition.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lecture]]

+ * [[lire]]

+ * [[la|lēctiō]]

+ * [[en|lesson]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}