formidable French · revision 17583

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1392, Philippe de Mézières|origins=la formīdō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɔʁ.mi.dabl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''formidable''' (plural formidables)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|formīdābilis|t=to be feared, terrible]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) from the verb [[m|la|formīdō|t=to fear, dread]], itself formed on a noun of the same spelling meaning “scarecrow”, then “dread”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Littré thought it entered French only at the start of the 17th century,^(Littré 1873) but the TLFi records it in 1392 and the Petit Robert calls that first record isolated, with steady use from about 1537.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Mézières uses it in his ''Testament'' (1392) for what inspires fear.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the beginning of the 19th century “terrible, fearsome” was the only sense, so that older texts are often misread today: Racine's ''Moïse à Pharaon parut moins formidable'' speaks of fear, not admiration.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Around 1830 it came to mean “of great size or power” (''une détonation formidable''), and, from there, as an exaggeration, “astonishing”, and a vague term of praise, first in Balzac in 1826.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) It was clipped to ''formide'' (1957), ''formi'' (1959) and ''formid'' (about 1960).^(DHLF 1992) As a noun (1912) it names a large mug of beer.^(DHLF 1992) Purists long criticized the weakened sense, which is now the ordinary one; the old one lives on only in literary use.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1392 – “Fearsome”, in Philippe de Mézières.^(TLFi)

+ * 1475 – In the chronicle of the canons of Neuchâtel.^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1826 – “Extraordinary”, in Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1830 – “Of great size or power”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1912 – ''Un formidable'', a large beer mug.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1957–1960 – The clippings ''formide'', ''formi'', ''formid''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(dated or literary)'' [[m|en|fearsome|alt=Fearsome]], [[m|en|dreadful]]: ''un aspect formidable''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Of very great size, strength or power; [[m|en|tremendous]]: ''une volonté formidable''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Excellent, [[m|en|terrific]]: ''un film formidable'', ''un type formidable''.^(Larousse)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Astonishing in its behaviour or ideas: ''c'est quand même formidable qu'il ne vous ait rien dit''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large [[m|en|mug]] of beer.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[formidablement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|formīdō]]

+ * [[en|formidable]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}