tendresse French · revision 38611

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1240, Jean de Thuin|origins=la tener}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tɑ̃.dʁɛs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tendresse''' ''f'' (plural tendresses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Anglo-Norman also ''tendrece'', ''tenderesse''.^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|tendre|-esse|t1=tender, soft]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) The adjective goes back to [[la|tener|t=soft, delicate]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Meyer-Lübke sets up a Latin [[m|la|*teneritia|t=tenderness]] for the whole Romance type.^(REW 1935|8647) The older language said [[fro|tendror]], and in the 16th century [[m|frm|tendreur]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|tenerezza]], [[oc|tendresa]], [[ca|tendresa]], [[es|terneza]], [[pt|terneza]] and [[ro|tinerețe|t=youth]].^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935|8647)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean de Thuin (about 1240) uses it for tenderness of a material, the quality later called [[tendreté]]; in 1319 it means “early youth, childhood”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle French the word meant childhood and the frailty of the young (Le Roy, 1551), and, from 1375 the quality of what is easily cut or worked.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg note that it stayed rare until the 17th century, when it was specialised for feelings: Voiture (before 1648) uses it for affection shown in gentle words and gestures.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ Molière has the plural ''tendresses'' for caresses and tokens of affection (1666, ''Le Misanthrope''), and in ''L'Avare'' (1668) the sense “inclination, leaning”;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Madame de Sévigné uses it for a vague emotion (1679).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The material sense survives only in the arts, for softness of colour or line, and the word is excluded of meat, which is ''tendre'' but has [[tendreté]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A slang sense “a woman of easy virtue” is recorded in 1882.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1240 – Jean de Thuin, of a material's tenderness.^(TLFi)

+ * 1319 – “Early youth, childhood”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1375 – Of what is soft or easily cut.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Before 1648 – Voiture, of affectionate feeling.^(TLFi)

+ * 1666 – The plural ''tendresses'', caresses, in Molière's ''Misanthrope''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1679 – Madame de Sévigné, of a vague emotion.^(TLFi)

+ * 1882 – Slang sense “woman of easy virtue”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|tenderness|alt=Tenderness]], [[m|en|affection]]: a gentle, loving feeling for someone.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # By extension, a basic feeling of sympathy and kindness towards others.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(plural)'' Expressions or tokens of affection: ''mille tendresses'' at the end of a letter.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|fondness]], indulgent liking (for an idea, a cause).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(literary, arts)'' Softness or delicacy of a colour or a material.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tendre]]

+ * [[tendreté]]

+ * [[attendrir]]

+ * [[la|tener]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}