égal French · revision 17561

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1150, Roman de Thèbes|origins=la aequus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.ɡal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''égal''' (feminine égale, masculine plural égaux, feminine plural égales)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|igal]] (about 1150), [[m|fro|egal]] (about 1160), ''esgal''; the inherited forms [[m|fro|uel]], [[m|fro|oel]], [[m|fro|evel]], [[m|fro|ivel]] lasted until the 15th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a remaking, after [[bor|la|aequālis|t=equal; even; level]], of the popular Old French forms that had come from that Latin word by regular sound change.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|24, 212b) The Latin adjective is derived from [[m|la|aequus|t=level, even; fair]] (see [[équi-]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Wiktionary thinks it even more likely that the French word was borrowed from [[pro|egal]], in which the form is the regular outcome.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Bloch and Wartburg note that [[it|uguale]] and [[es|igual]] are popular forms; compare also [[pt|igual]] and [[oc|egal]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Roman de Thèbes'' (about 1150) has ''igal'' of a value or quality that is the same in several things;^(TLFi) Wace has ''egal painnes'' and ''egal jugement'' about 1160.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Wace (1155) also applies it to a person of the same rank as another, the idea that in the 18th century, with [[égalité]], became an ideological theme: that all people are, or should be, equal before the law.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It was used of quantities and sizes about 1165, and of a level, even surface at the same time.^(TLFi) Montaigne (1580) has it for what does not vary, as in a ''chaleur temperée et égale'', and ''à l'esgal de'' “as much as” (1595).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In the 17th century Corneille uses it for “impartial” (''Horace'', 1641) and so “indifferent”, and then for what is a matter of indifference: ''la chose m'est égale'' (1663).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From this came ''c'est égal'' “all the same” (1779) and ''ça m'est égal'' “I don't mind” (1814).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The noun gave ''sans égale'' (Corneille, 1641) and ''traiter d'égal à égal''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1119 – The inherited form ''evel'', in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – ''Igal'', in the ''Roman de Thèbes''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Egal'', in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “Unvarying”, in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1641 – “Impartial” and ''sans égale'', in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1663 – ''La chose m'est égale''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1779 – ''C'est égal''.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1814 – ''Ça m'est égal''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|equal|alt=Equal]] in quantity, size, value or quality: ''des parts égales'', ''sept plus trois est égal à dix''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of people, of the same rank or with the same rights: ''égaux devant la loi''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # [[m|en|even|alt=Even]], level, unvarying: ''un terrain égal'', ''d'humeur égale''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Égal à soi-même'': unchanged, always the same.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Ça m'est égal'': I don't mind, it's all the same to me, ''c'est égal'', all the same.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Toutes choses égales d'ailleurs'': all other things being equal.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An equal: ''d'égal à égal'', ''sans égal'', unequalled.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''À l'égal de'': as much as, like.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[également]]

+ * [[égaler]]

+ * [[égalité]]

+ * [[égaliser]]

+ * [[égalisation]]

+ * [[inégal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[équité]]

+ * [[équivalent]]

+ * [[la|aequālis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}