par-dessus French · revision 17601

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1150, Charroi de Nîmes|origins=la per, la dēsursum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /paʁ.də.sy/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''par-dessus'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[par]] and [[dessus]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) In Old French the phrase [[m|fro|par desus]] was in use as a preposition about 1150 and as an adverb about 1176, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi) The preposition continues [[la|per|t=through, by means of]],^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) and the adverb continues [[m|la|dēsursum|t=from above]], a compound of [[m|la|dē]] and [[m|la|sursum|t=upwards]] that was current in the popular Latin of the Empire.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The preposition took figurative uses alongside the spatial one: ''par-dessus tout'' “above all”, ''par-dessus le marché'' “into the bargain”, ''en avoir par-dessus la tête'' “to be fed up”, and ''jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins'' “to throw off all propriety”, all illustrated in the TLFi from 19th-century writers.^(TLFi) Littré also records a noun ''par-dessus'', an overcoat, and in feudal law the overlord of a fief; the noun is now written ''pardessus''.^(Littré 1873)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|over|alt=Over]], above, on top of: ''porter un manteau par-dessus ses habits''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # Beyond, in addition to: ''par-dessus le marché''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # Going over someone's head, bypassing a level of a [[m|en|hierarchy]].^(Larousse)

+ # ''Par-dessus tout'': above all, more than anything else.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Over it, on top: ''les derniers venus passent par-dessus''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dessus]]

+ * [[par-dessous]]

+ * [[pardessus]]

+ * [[au-dessus]]

+ * [[la|sursum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}