sage French · revision 17684

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la sapiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /saʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sage''' (plural sages)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|savie]] (about 1050), [[m|fro|saive]] (about 1100); ''sage'' from about 1100.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|sage]], [[inh|la-vul|*sapius]] or [[m|la-vul|*sabius]], an alteration of Latin [[m|la|sapidus|t=tasty; wise, virtuous]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|11, 202b) The Latin adjective is derived from [[m|la|sapiō|t=to taste; to be wise]], the source of [[savoir]], and also gave the old adjective [[sade]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Petronius has a compound [[m|la|nesapius|t=fool]], which supports the reconstructed form.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Bloch and Wartburg explain the change of suffix by the close link with [[m|la-vul|*sabō|alt=*sabere|t=to know]]; the Grand Robert and Petit Robert add the influence of [[m|la|sapiēns|t=wise]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré notes that the other Romance forms rule out a derivation from the nominative of that participle.^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary instead names Latin [[m|la|sagāx|t=keen-scented, shrewd]] as the ultimate source.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|savi]], [[ca|savi]], [[es|sabio]] and [[pt|sábio]]; [[it|saggio]] was borrowed from Old French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''savie'', “learned, knowledgeable”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the ''Chanson de Roland'' ''sage'' means judicious, sensible: ''Rolanz est proz e Oliviers est sage''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense, “learned”, is now obsolete; the other senses grew out of it.^(DHLF 1992) In Old French the word described a prudent, judicious person, often as a plural noun opposed to fools (''li fol et li sage''), and a man expert in his art, a sense kept in [[sage-femme]] (1212).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) About 1170 Chrétien de Troyes uses it of a modest, well-behaved girl.^(TLFi)

+

+ Montaigne (about 1590) uses it for someone moderate and master of his passions;^(TLFi) ''un sage'' named the wise men of antiquity from about 1165.^(TLFi) The sense “well-behaved”, said of a child, is recorded by Pomey in 1671 and of an animal by the Académie in 1694;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) ''sage comme une image'' is in Furetière (1690).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Said of things, it means measured or restrained, as a ''tableau sage'' (1765).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Savie'' “learned” in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sage'' and ''saive'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The wise men of antiquity, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – Of a modest young woman, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1212 – The compound ''sage-femme''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1590 – Montaigne: moderate, master of one's passions.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – Of a well-behaved child.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Sage comme une image''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|wise|alt=Wise]], prudent and judicious: ''une sage décision''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' Having a superior art of living, ''(archaic)'' learned.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of a child, good, [[m|en|well-behaved]]: ''sage comme une image''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated)'' Of a woman, chaste, modest.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # Measured, without excess; restrained in style.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wise person, a [[m|en|sage]]: ''les sept sages de la Grèce''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[assagir]]

+ * [[sage-femme]]

+ * [[sagesse]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[savoir]]

+ * [[sade]]

+ * [[la|sapidus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}