semaine

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French sepmaine, from Old French semaine, from Late Latin septimāna (“week”), from the Latin septimānus (“related to the seventh element of a series”, adjective), derived from septimus (“seventh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə.mɛn/
• IPA^(key): (informal) /smɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

semaine f (plural semaines)

1. week

   Je l’ai vu il n’y a pas plus longtemps qu’une semaine.

   I saw him no longer than a week ago.

2. (Quebec) menstrual period

   Je suis dans ma semaine.

   I'm having my period.

Derived terms

• fin de semaine
• la semaine des quatre jeudis

Descendants

• Antillean Creole: simenn
• Aruamu: semen
• Guianese Creole: simenn
• Haitian Creole: semèn
• Karipúna Creole French: simén
• Louisiana Creole: lasmènn, smènn
• Seychellois Creole: lasemenn, semenn, smenn
• Tayo: semen
• → Esperanto: semajno

See also

• (days of the week) jours de la semaine; lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche ^{(Category: fr:Days of the week)}

Further reading

• “semaine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• amnésie, animées, maniées

Old French

Alternative forms

• semainne, sepmaine

Etymology

From Late Latin septimāna (“week”), from the Latin septimānus (“related to the seventh element of a series”, adjective), derived from septimus (“seventh”).

Noun

semaine oblique singular, f (oblique plural semaines, nominative singular semaine, nominative plural semaines)

1. week

Descendants

Descendants

• Gallo: smâinñ
• Middle French: sepmaine
  • French: semaine
    • Antillean Creole: simenn
    • Aruamu: semen
    • Guianese Creole: simenn
    • Haitian Creole: semèn
    • Karipúna Creole French: simén
    • Louisiana Creole: lasmènn, smènn
    • Seychellois Creole: lasemenn, semenn, smenn
    • Tayo: semen
    • → Esperanto: semajno
• Norman: semaine (continental Normandy), s'môine (Guernsey), s'maine (Jersey)
• Picard: smainne
• Walloon: samaîun, samwinne