lueur French · revision 38671

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=la lūx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /lɥœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lueur''' ''f'' (plural lueurs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|leiur]] (about 1112), [[m|fro|luur]] (1119), [[m|fro|luor]] (12th century); ''lueur'' from 1223.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Middle French also had [[m|frm|luour]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|luur]], [[inh|la-lat|lūcor|t=brightness, brilliance]], the noun belonging to [[m|la|lūceō|t=to shine]], from [[m|la|lūx|t=light]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 437a)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF treat the Latin noun as a popular form, [[m|la-vul|*lūcōrem]], not recorded in writing.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) The verb [[luire]] continues the same Latin verb.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lucore]], [[ro|lucoare]], [[ca|llugor]] and [[oc|lugor]].^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon's ''Comput'' (1119) has ''luur'' for light or brilliance;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) the GLLF gives an earlier ''leiur'' in the ''Voyage de saint Brendan'' (about 1112).^(GLLF 1989) Like the Latin word, it could name a strong light.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Deschamps uses it figuratively for “splendour” at the end of the 14th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From 1585 (Garnier) it took its modern sense of a faint, diffuse light, and since then it names a bright light only for reflected light, for stylistic effect, or for a brief gleam in someone's eyes.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The figurative sense “slight sign or trace” appears in Molière's ''Tartuffe'' (1669), as in ''une lueur d'espoir'', and in the plural ''lueurs'' shared with [[lumière]] the sense “knowledge, understanding” (before 1742, Massillon).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1112 – ''Leiur'' in the ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1119 – ''Luur'' in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1223 – ''Lueur'' in Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – “Splendour”, in Deschamps.^(TLFi)

+ * 1585 – A faint light, in Garnier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669 – “A slight trace”, in Molière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A faint or diffuse light, a [[m|en|glimmer]] or [[m|en|glow]]: ''à la lueur d'une lampe'', ''les premières lueurs de l'aube''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A brief, vivid expression in the eyes, a [[m|en|gleam]]: ''une lueur de colère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A faint sign or trace: ''une lueur d'espoir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary, in the plural)'' Knowledge, glimmerings of understanding.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[luire]]

+ * [[lumière]]

+ * [[lucide]]

+ * [[la|lūx]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}