menace French · revision 38567

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 880, Sequence of Saint Eulalia|origins=la minae}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /mə.nas/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''menace''' ''f'' (plural menaces)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|manatce]] (about 880), [[m|fro|manace]] (about 1100) and [[m|fro|menace]] (about 1160); Anglo-Norman also [[m|xno|manasse]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|manace]], [[inh|la-vul|*minācia|t=threat]], found in the plural as early as Plautus and above all in Late Latin.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/2, 98b) The word is derived, through the adjective [[m|la|mināx|t=threatening]], from the classical plural [[m|la|minae|t=threats]], which it replaced.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin noun first meant projecting parts of a wall or rock, overhangs; from “things hanging over” it passed to “threats”, an image Rey compares to the sword of Damocles, and it is probably related to [[m|la|mōns|t=mountain]], as in [[éminent]] and [[imminent]].^(DHLF 1992) The early forms with /a/ come from the assimilation of the unstressed /e/ to the stressed /a/.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|minaccia]], [[ca|menassa]], [[es|amenaza]] and [[pt|ameaça]].^(TLFi)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record, ''manatce'' in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 880), is a word or gesture showing someone one's anger: ''Por manatce regiel ne preiemen'' “not for the king's threat or entreaty”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first the word was said only of words or gestures by people;^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''menaces en l'air'' “idle threats” is in Corneille (1662).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) By extension it came to mean the signs that make one fear an event, a disaster or an illness (Montaigne, about 1580–90), and then a danger in general.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) The Anglo-Norman ''manace'' also named a writ charging someone with having threatened the plaintiff.^(AND)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 880 – ''Manatce'' in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.^(TLFi)

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

+ * c. 1160 – The form ''menace'' in the ''Roman d'Énéas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1580 – Montaigne uses it of signs that foretell a misfortune.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ * 1662 – Corneille's ''menaces en l'air''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|threat]]: a word or act by which someone shows the intention to do harm, to [[m|en|intimidate]]: ''céder à la menace''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Menaces en l'air'': idle threats, ''sous la menace'': under duress.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A sign that announces something to be feared: ''une menace d'orage''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # A [[m|en|danger]] or a person or thing seen as one: ''une menace pour la paix''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[menacer]]

+ * [[menaçant]]

+ * [[imminent]]

+ * [[la|minae]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}