gras French · revision 38662

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes|origins=la crassus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡʁa/^(Wiktionary)

+ * /ɡʁɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gras''' (feminine grasse, masculine plural gras, feminine plural grasses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|cras]] beside [[m|fro|gras]];^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) Anglo-Norman also had [[m|xno|craz]] and [[m|xno|graz]].^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|gras]], [[inh|la-lat|grassus]], an altered form of [[la|crassus|t=thick, dense; fat; coarse, dull]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|2, 1277b) The Latin word first meant “thick” and was then used expressively for “stout, fat”; it displaced [[m|la|pinguis|t=fat]], which survives only in [[it|pingue]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The voiced initial /g/, found already in Late Latin, is probably due to [[m|la|grossus|t=thick]], the source of [[gros]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi) Only Picard and Walloon kept the initial /k/ of the Latin word, as in [[pcd|cras]] and [[wa|crâs]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary calls the word a doublet of [[crasse]], which took up the Latin sense “thick”.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|grasso]], [[oc|gras]], [[ca|gras]], [[es|graso]] and [[ro|gras]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1170 in Chrétien de Troyes' ''Erec et Enide'', meaning “well-fleshed, stout”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In connection with [[graisse]], which has the same origin, the adjective came to mean “made of fat” (early 13th century) and “containing fat”, as in ''gras fromages'' (13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Cooking gave ''choux gras'', cabbage cooked with fat, whence ''faire ses choux gras'' “to profit from something” (1478–1480).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The noun ''le gras'', the fatty part, dates from about 1265, and ''le gras de la jambe'', the calf, from the 16th and 17th centuries.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The idea of richness gave the senses “fertile” (13th century, now dated) and “abundant”, and the pleasantly long morning of ''grasse matinée'' (1478–1480).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Gras'' meant “coarse, licentious” in 1401, in allusion to the free talk allowed on the ''jours gras'', the days before Lent when the Church allowed meat; hence ''jours gras'' (before 1538) and ''mardi gras'' (1636).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) From the later 16th century it also meant “stained with grease”, and of sounds it was used in ''parler gras'' (before 1540), the source of [[grasseyer]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Technical senses followed: “too thick” in building (1676) and “bold” in printing (1775).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1170 – “Stout, well-fleshed”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * Early 13th century – “Made with fat”, in Reclus de Molliens.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – The noun ''le gras'', in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1401 – “Licentious”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1478–1480 – ''Faire ses choux gras'' and ''grasses matinées'', in Coquillart.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1540 – ''Parler gras''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – ''Mardi gras'', in Monet.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1666 – ''Le gras de la jambe'', in Furetière's ''Roman bourgeois''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1775 – Of bold type in printing.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of or like [[m|en|fat]]: ''matières grasses'', ''corps gras'', ''acides gras''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Containing fat or meat: ''un bouillon gras'', ''jours gras'', ''mardi gras'', ''faire ses choux gras'', to profit from something.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' Coarse, [[m|en|bawdy]]: ''des plaisanteries grasses''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a person or animal, having much fat, [[m|en|plump]]: ''un chat gras'', ''tuer le veau gras'', ''foie gras''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of skin or hair, [[m|en|oily]]; smeared or soiled with grease: ''des mains grasses''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Thick and soft like fat: ''une terre grasse'', ''une toux grasse'', a loose, productive cough, ''plantes grasses'', succulents.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Thick, heavy: ''une voix grasse'', ''(printing)'' ''caractères gras'', bold type.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Rich, abundant, ''faire la grasse matinée'', to [[m|en|sleep in]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fat of meat, ''faire gras'', to eat meat.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Le gras de la jambe'': the [[m|en|calf]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(printing)'' Bold type: ''en gras''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[grasset]]

+ * [[grasseyer]]

+ * [[grassouillet]]

+ * [[gras-double]]

+ * [[gras-fondu]]

+ * [[grassement]]

+ * [[engraisser]]

+ * [[mardi gras]]

+ * [[foie gras]]

+ * [[grasse matinée]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[graisse]]

+ * [[crasse]]

+ * [[gros]]

+ * [[la|crassus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}