All the French words used in the Chronique de Du Guesclin, Collationnée sur L’Édition originale du XVe Siècle, et sur tous les Manuscrits, avec une Notice Bibliographique et des Notes, par M. Fr. Michel : Paris, Bureau de La Bibliothèque Choisie; 1830.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
ALL THE FRENCH WORDS in the entire book, are defined and conjugated — every one, every time. Each word will be listed, with its meaning in English in every form it is used in this text.
Each main word entry that is underlined is a link. Click on it to be taken to the first time this word was used in the text of The Chronicle of Du Guesclin in that exact form, or by that exact definition.
If the main entry has not been used in this exact way, it is the main form of the word and is not underlined. In that case, the form of the word which is used in the book will be in an underlined subheading below it.
Medieval and Renaissance English definitions* are used for the words. If the meaning has changed in any modern use of it, as in the Introduction or Notes by Michel, that will be mentioned. Fortunately, the French of the 14th century has changed less than that of English. It is easier to understand medieval French for a modern French speaker than it is for a modern English speaker to understand Chaucer, or other early English writers.
There are many variant spellings within the text itself. Many variant spellings exist throughout the medievel French manuscripts, and early books, just as in early English literature. Older French, too, was not standardized, and any author, first writing in his own language, instead of the standard Latin common to Europe, had no dictionary to help him. He wrote in the dialect that he spoke, usually. There was no officially recognized French language for many years. Obviously, then, there were no dictionaries, a writer spelt phonetically or with standards of spelling used in other writings by literate friends and neighbors. Michel does not comment on the language used in the manuscript, or mention the regional dialect primarily used by the author, in his Introduction. If Toynbee, Chandos or Cotgrave state that a word form was used in a particular region especially, this is noted.
Since spelling varies in the text for a particular word frequently, all the variations used are listed, individually, and also under the main heading for the word, so it can be found alphabetically or by the root form.
The flagrant disharmony in spelling also serves as a testimony to the problems inherent in proofreading, and to the perpetual difficulty of hiring good secretarial help, when nobody wants to pay much for that sort of work.
The original author may have been conscientious and kept the spelling consistent in his own manuscript. However, for more than one copy, or to pass on a manuscript someone owned, but wished to share, handwritten copies had to be made. Because the old manuscripts were copied by hand, by poorly paid, or poorly motivated types, mistakes run rampant through all the copies, and within an individual manuscript, and this text is no exception. Often, the copyists were unfamiliar with the whole language, or the particular dialect, that was used by the author of the text they were transcribing.
Aside from errors of the scribes, there is an added reason for all the different ways to spell a given word in the newly written vernacular of a country. There was no official national language of a country, whether French or English. Latin was the universal language and the only one taught in most schools, and even that varied in isolated schools where it was taught. So, if all the variations in spelling seem to imply a lower standard of education of the author, that would be a false and unjust assumption to make.
Most particularly, the original author usually had no control of the use, or quality, of any copies of his work that appeared. He might never see and be appalled at the sometimes horrible copies of his work that survived. In the Introduction, the anonymous writer directs a plea to all who may read his/her work to let him/her know about any mistakes they find, if they are traveling in the neighborhood.
The sources for the definitions can be found in the Comments* below.
About verb classifications: In the slightly older dictionaries, 100 years or so. Nobody I used had heard of the Simple Past or Definite Past, or Historic Past, as such, it is always called the Perfect and so used as such in the following glossary, unless it is a modern French word used in the titles or in the reference by Michel.
In Chandos and Toynbee sometimes the same spelling of some verbs used in the third person singular were called imperfect in one but perfect in the other. Both are noted.
Cotgrave uses different tenses like the aorist and other extravagant forms that the first two references barely mentioned, and my modern books don't mention at all. These other verb forms are rare in Guesclin, so conjugations and their patterns mentioned by the other two are almost always used and noted if they listed that form particularly. If the conjugation says Elf.Ed, then it was mine, based on the endings used similarly in the old books and the models used will be credited. If it is a standard Modern French form of the word and not listed by them, there will be no reference note.
The Conditional was felt to be a separate Mood to these older linguists as well, so this classification is used. This division is not considered to be the correct by some modern linguists.
When there is no mention of the source, then it is my note and a general mixture of several resources for meanings with expanded synonyms.
About types of verbs: In Toynbee, verbs are classified as active, neuter, or reflective. In modern dictionaries transitive, intransitive and reflective are used. Toynbee’s classification is used in this glossary, unless the verb is not used in his dictionary and is only found in Modern French dictionaries, and those classifications are then used.
A : preposition or verb (from the verb avoir: to have) :
NOTE !!! In modern French this word, used as a preposition, has a grave accent (the reverse of an acute accent): à. This is not always so in older French texts and the accent is never included in this text of Du Guesclin. In that case, differentiating between the preposition and the verb has to be determined by the context.
Here is the first example of the use of small “a” in this text, used as the preposition, à, without the accent.
NOTE !!! Often, in modern French, when the preposition à is capitalized, the accent is not included, as in older French. In that case, too, differentiating between the preposition and the verb has to be determined by the context.
There is a modern example of the use of capital “A” on this site, as the preposition, à, without the accent.
(1) à : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular or plural. :
(a) à : .
(b) à : .
(2) a : verb — active indicative present; third person singular, from the verb avoir: to have, an irregular verb.
Anciens : masculine noun; plural, from ancien. .
Anciens : masculine noun, singular.
Anglais : masculine noun or adjective; singular or plural. Capitalization is important to distinguish the two meanings. , used as either:
(1) anglais : masculine adjective; singular or plural. .
(a) anglaise : feminine adjective; singular or plural. .
(2) Anglais : masculine noun; singular or plural. .
(a) Anglaise : feminine noun; singular or plural. .
Anglaise : feminine noun or adjective; singular or plural. , used as either :
(1) anglaise : feminine adjective; singular or plural. .
(2) Anglaise : feminine noun; singular or plural. .
Avec : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular or plural. .
Avoir : verb. Infinitive. It has several meanings, forms, and uses. The most common definition is: .
Bertrand : masculine proper noun; singular. , the same in both languages. The first name of our hero:
(1) Bertrand du Guesclin : masculine proper noun; singular. , the subject of this biography. In other texts, he is mentioned only by his title, Count of Longueville, or Constable or Marshal of France. For the meaning of his last name, see Guesclin.
He is never called just Du Guesclin, except in the title pages or by modern researchers. In the hierarachy of his time, everybody had a first name, of course. Last names, though, were less reliable. Usually they referred to the place where the person was born. If a person was lucky enough to inherit a noble last name, or title, or acquire one by effort, [I include marriage here], then the First Name followed by the place of origin, sometimes, — then a Title is added. All the titles a person could claim might be tossed in as well. Michelet, in History of France, Vol. I, on p. 456, has a footnote quoting a letter by Bertrand, in which he signs himself, “Bertrand, knight, count of Longueville, chamberlain of the king of France.“
The first time his full name without any titles attached was used in the biography, is on the Title Page, and the first time he is called Bertrand only is in Chapter I.
Bibliographique : feminine or masculine adjective; singular. .
Bibliothèque : feminine noun; singular. .
(1) La Bibliothèque Choisie : feminine proper name; singular. .
Whether this is a private publishing or printing firm or bookseller, or a governmental office of the 19th century, I cannot discover. This agency had three branches: Paris, Méquigonon-Havard, and Bricon, according to the title-pages of the book.
(2) La Bibliothèque Royale : feminine proper name; singular. .
In the French Revolution, the revolting populace seized all the possessions they wanted from the losers. Therefore the private library of the king and many other nobles were stolen and the National Library of France was created from these possessions, according to Wikipedia. That cannot be the whole story, since this book was written many years after the Revolution, in 1830, and it is still referred to as the Royal Library. The Revolution was long over at this point.
Bureau : masculine noun; singular. .
Choisie : past participle; feminine; singular of the verb choisir. .
For other forms and meanings, see choisir.
Choisir : active verb, infinitive. .
(1) Choisie : past participle; feminine; singular. .
Chronique : feminine noun; singular. .
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used in the text itself, outside of the title and bibliographic note on every page, see chronique.
Collationée : past participle; feminine; singular of the verb collationer. .
For other forms and meanings, see collationer.
Collationer : [neuter?] verb, infinitive. .
Collationée : past participle; feminine; singular. .
Conservé : past participle — masculine; singular of the verb conserver. .
For other forms and meanings, see conserver.
Conserver : active verb, infinitive. .
Conservé : past participle — masculine; singular. .
De : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular. :
(1) De : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular. .
(a) Des : masculine or feminine; plural. It is the plural of du, which is the contractions of de + les. .
Des : preposition — masculine or feminine; plural. It is the plural of du, which is the contractions of de + les.
For other forms and meanings, see Du.
Devant : adverb, preposition, or noun :
(1) Devant : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular or plural.
Du : feminine or masculine singular contraction of the preposition de + the definite article Le, or De + La. .
Édition : feminine noun; singular. .
It can also mean . There is no plural form, but when this is implied, it can mean .
Et : conjunction. masculine or feminine; singular or plural. .
Et can mean , in imitation of the Latin, — Toynbee.
Fac-simile : feminine noun; singular. .
Fr. : abbreviation of Francisque; a masculine proper noun; singular.
Français : masculine noun or adjective; singular or plural.
(1) français : masculine adjective; singular or plural. .
(a) française : feminine adjective; singular. .
(2) Français : masculine noun; singular or plural. .
(a) Française : feminine noun; singular or plural. .
Française : feminine noun or adjective; singular.
(1) française : feminine adjective; singular, or plural. .
(2) Française : feminine noun; singular or plural. .
Glossaire : masculine noun; singular. .
Guesclin : proper noun; singular. , the same as in English.
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used in context go to this webpage.
L’ : This can be either feminine or masculine, singular. It is the elided or shortened form of both La, or Le. It can mean either the definite article, or the pronoun, depending on the context:
For all the possible forms, uses and meanings, see Le.
This shortened form, of Le, or La, can be feminine or masculine, depending on the noun it modifies but it is always singular.
In L’, the vowel, e or a is dropped. This happens when the word is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h. This is done because the French, like some other nations, didn’t like to say 2 vowels together, thinking it sounded awkward and ugly. The word for this process is called elision.
When pronouncing the word, then, you would say both together — Le-di-tion, for L’Édition, etc.
The French adore elision, and do it in all sorts of places, which makes oral French really, really hard to understand to beginning listeners trying to learn the lingo.
Also, the article, whether la, le, les, un, une, or unes, etc., is regularly used in French, not like in English, where it is often omitted.
(1) L’ : As definite article. This can be either feminine or masculine, singular. It is singular shortened form of both La, or Le. The meaning doesn’t change — it always means .
Whether feminine or masculine, the meaning doesn’t change — it always means The, since common nouns in English are neuter — so there is no distinction in translation between masculine and feminine forms of articles and nouns in French.
(1) L’ : feminine, singular. Elision of the feminine; singular definite article La : .
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used, for a feminine noun, in context, outside of the bibliographic reference, go to this webpage.
(1) L’ : masculine, singular. Elision of the masculine; singular definite article Le : .
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used, for a masculine noun, in context, outside of the bibliographic reference, go to this webpage.
La : feminine pronoun, or definite article; singular.
Le : masculine pronoun, or article; singular :
(1) Le : masculine article, singular.
(a) La : feminine definite article; singular.
(b) Les : masculine or feminine, definite article; plural.
(2) Le : masculine pronoun; singular :
Les : masculine or feminine, definite article, or pronoun. Plural of Le or La. See Le.
(1) Le : masculine or feminine definite article, plural.
M. : Abbeviation for Monsieur, masculine; singular title of respect. .
Manuscrits : masculine noun, plural of manuscrit. .
Michel : proper noun; singular. .
Here, referring to the Editor of the Life of Du Guesclin. His full name was Francisque Xavier Michel, and he lived 78 years, from 1809-1887. He was a noted French scholar and was one of the first to resurrect older French works. In his work, he traveled to England and Scotland to study the French texts there. See the spot of trouble he got into in England, when he went to study old manuscripts, here.
Notes : feminine noun, plural of Note. .
Notice : feminine noun; singular. Article, essay, or commentary.
Original : masculine adjective or noun; singular :
(1) Original : masculine noun; singular. .
(2) Original : masculine adjective; singular. .
(a) Originale : femininine adjective; singular. .
Originale : feminine adjective; singular. .
Par : preposition — masculine or feminine; singular or plural. :
(1) Par : .
Paris : masculine proper noun; singular. . It is the same word in English or French, and other languages, too.
Here, the is meant — not Paris, Kentucky; or Paris the abductor of Helen of Troy.
NOTE !!! Some proper names in French do have a gender, but the definite article, La or Le is rarely, if ever, used. Countries, yes, but cities, and individuals, no. La France is correct occasionally, but never Le Paris. L’Allemagne is used, but not Le Bertrand. For more on this see the only book online that addresses this subject intelligently and clearly: French Grammar, by R. Labutte.
NOTE !!! In the present text, the article is never used before proper nouns of countries, like France, or proper names of individuals: Robert Canolle [p. 126].
Also, in proper names, like Bertrand du Guesclin and Charles de Bloys, the de and du are not capitalized. But if the definite article is included in the title, it is capitalized: Eustache de La Houssoye; le roi Edoard de l’Angleterre. [p. 44].
The titles of Sir, Count, King, Duchesse, Castle, etc., in proper names are not capitalized and use the article before the title: le roy Charles de France, le chastel Josselin, duc de Lancastre, le duc Charles, messire Guillame Boitel, etc. However, exceptions do occur, as usual, and include: Le Begue , Le Moyne de Betavy [p.126], and Le Baston [p. 115].
See also, the webpage by Prof. T. Daniel Seely, on Notes on Nouns and Noun Phrases. He is less clear on the gender of proper nouns, but more clear on the difference between a proper noun and a proper name. A proper noun is a specific place, person or thing. A proper name is a specific person, place or thing but made up of more than one word, like University of Alaska Southwest. He also points out that a definite article may be a part of a proper name, and capitalized, his example being The Hague, in English, or an example in this text: La Mote de Bron, in French.
Prendre : active or neuter verb. .
(1) Pris : past participle — masculine; singular. .
Pris : past participle — masculine; singular of the verb prendre : to take. .
For other forms and meanings, see Prendre.
Projet : masculine noun; singular. .
In the headers and footers of the pages, this refers to the general site plan of this website: Elfinspell.
Royale : feminine adjective; singular. .
Siècle : masculine noun; singular. . It can mean, more indefinitely, an .
Signature : feminine noun; singular. .
Suivant : feminine noun; singular. .
Frequently used this way in this manuscript, for the first time it was used, outside of the basic page formatting, in context go to this webpage.
Sur : preposition — masculine, or feminine; singular or plural. :
(1) Sur : .
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used in context, outside of the basic bibliographic notice, go to this webpage.
Texte : feminine noun; singular. .
Tous : Here, used as a masculine or feminine pronoun, plural. From tout. .
For other forms and uses of tout, see the Tout.
Tout Adjective or Adverb :
(1) Tout : Here, used as a masculine pronouns; singular; from tout. .
(a) Tous : Here, used as a masculine or feminine pronoun, plural. From tout. .
(2) Tout : Here, used as a masculine adjective; singular; from tout. .
(a) Tous : Here, used as a masculine or feminine adjective; plural. tout. .
(b) Toute : Here, used as a feminine adjective; singular; from tout. .
Toute : Here, used as a feminine adjective; singular; from tout. .
For other forms and uses of tout, see the Tout.
Un : masculine indefinite article, or number, singular.
(1) Une : feminine indefinite article, or number, singular. .
Very frequently used this way in this book, for the first time it was used in the text itself, outside of the title and bibliographic note on every page, see une.
Une : feminine indefinite article, or number, singular. From Un. A, an, or one.
XVe : abbreviation for the ordinal number; masculine, or feminine. .
This notation of XV plus e makes this the ordinal number abbreviation, for quinzième. Just as in English, we use 15, or XV, plus th, to make 15th, or XVth, which stands for fifteenth.
* The Glossary is newly created for this text. Glossaries used for the Medieval French are from the works of:
[abbr. as Chandos] — Mildred K. Pope and Eleanor C. Lodge, a work contemporary with that of Guesclin, in the Life of the Black Prince by the Herald of Sir John Chandos, Oxford: Claredon Press; 1910),
[abbr. as Toynbee] — Paget Toynbee, in Specimens of Old French(IX-XV Centuries), with some contemporary works, Oxford: Clarendon Pres; 1892,
[abbr. as Cotgrave] — Randall Cotgrave’s Dictionary of the French and English Tongues, published in 16ll, 200 years after this work, were used — thankfully put online by Greg Lindahl.
[abbr. as Modern] — Occasionally, modern French-English dictionaries and text-books were used if the older references did not contain a word that is used in this text, or for translations of the modern French used by Michel.
[abbr. as Thayer] — If all that failed, Bill Thayer, an expert in modern French, and not only bilingual, well-read, and wise but kind, very patient, and clear in his explanations, who pitched in with his considered opinion.
[abbr. as Elf.Ed.] — Last, but not least, if the word in Guesclin has not exact equivalent in any of these resources, a good guess based on similar spellings and conjugations in the above works prevails. — S. R.
Copyright © by Susan Rhoads, Elfinspell 2008