lent French · revision 17663

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lent''' (feminine lente, masculine plural lents, feminine plural lentes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|lent]], [[inh|la|lentus|t=supple, pliant; sticky; sluggish, slow]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|5, 252a)^(Wiktionary) The origin of the Latin adjective is obscure: it may be an Etruscan loan, and the comparison with [[goh|lindi|t=soft, gentle]], itself isolated, does not establish an Indo-European source.^(DHLF 1992) It is a doublet of [[lento]], taken from Italian.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|lent]], [[es|lento]] and [[it|lento]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it describes a person who acts or moves without speed, sluggish: Oliver curses ''li plus lenz''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The range of the word, wider in Old French, narrowed in the 16th and 17th centuries to “slow, lacking speed”, said of beings from the first texts, then of things (about 1250), of the mind (1580), of a disease (Amyot, 1559) and of the pulse (1680).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Other senses taken from Latin in the 15th and 16th centuries were abandoned, such as “flexible, supple” (about 1500), still used as an archaism by André Chénier, and “damp, moist”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ In Old French ''estre lent de'' also meant to be slow or reluctant to do something.^(AND)^(Littré 1873) Derivatives include [[lenteur]] (14th century) and [[ralentir]] (1564), through ''alentir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1145 – Wace: ''Ne seies pas a creire lente''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1250 – Said of things.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1500 – “Flexible”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1559 – Amyot: ''maladie lente''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – ''Ralentir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – Furetière: ''pous lent''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|slow|alt=Slow]], lacking speed in movement or action: ''la tortue, animal lent'', ''lent à comprendre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of movements, slow and measured: ''à pas lents''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of the mind, slow to understand: ''avoir l'esprit lent''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Taking a long time to act or to happen: ''un poison lent'', ''une mort lente''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Of the pulse, beating below the normal rate.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lenteur]]

+ * [[ralentir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lento]]

+ * [[la|lentus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}