English
longue durée
Longue durée comes from French long ‘long duration’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos‘long’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longos‘long’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongus‘far, long’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400long
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame formas longue‘long duration’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976longue durée
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos‘long’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longos‘long’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongus‘far, long’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400long
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame formas longue‘long duration’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976longue durée
Earliest quotation: 1976, Jean Franco, Foreword: “The longue duree of river and rocks throws into…”
The story
Attested since the 1960s.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’
along, longer, length, linger, 17 more
through Latin longus ‘far, long’
longitudinal, longitude, lunge, oblong, elongate, elongation, 10 more
through French long ‘long duration’
Today it means
noun A long period of time during which social processes develop or social structures evolve.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos / longue durée