tristesse
See also: Tristesse
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English trestesse, tristes, tristesce, tristesse, tristice, from Middle French tristesse.
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -ɛs
Noun edit
tristesse (uncountable)
- (literary) sadness
- 1992, Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 52:
- The robot let out a long heartfelt sigh of impassioned tristesse and sank reluctantly away from the ceiling.
- 2007 January 14, Liesl Schillinger, quoting Martin Amis, “Siberian Fields”, in New York Times[1]:
- “The peculiar resonance of his postcoital tristesse, for example.”
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
tristesse f (plural tristesses, diminutive tristessetje n)
French edit
Etymology edit
First attested in Old French as tristesce, tristece. From triste + -esse, modeled after Latin trīstitia.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
tristesse f (plural tristesses)
- sadness
- la tristesse durera ― the sadness will last
- 1932, Paul Éluard, “À Peine Défigurée”, in La Vie immédiate, Paris: Gallimard:
- Adieu tristesse / Bonjour tristesse / Tu es inscrite dans les lignes du plafond / Tu es inscrite dans les yeux que j’aime / Tu n’es pas tout à fait la misère / Car les lèvres les plus pauvres te dénoncent / Par un sourire
- Farewell sadness / Hello sadness / You are inscribed in the lines on the ceiling / You are inscribed in the eyes of those I love / You are not quite the same as misery / Because the weakest lips can denounce you / With a smile
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- → English: tristesse
References edit
- ^ Etymology and history of “tristesse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Further reading edit
- “tristesse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.