biography
pronunciation:
[maynahzh]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1613–92)
|
| biography:
| Scholar and man of letters, born in Angers, NW France. A lawyer, he frequented Mme de Rambouillet's circle of précieuses, who cultivated wit and elegant conversation. From 1656 he sponsored the mercuriales, Wednesday literary meetings attended by poets and critics. He wrote many critical works, including Les Origines de la Langue Française (1650), which was later extended to become an etymological dictionary with his Observations sur la Langue Française (1672–5). |
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