éloquence

Forms

éloquence f (plural éloquences)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēloquentia (“ease of expression, art of speaking”).^[2][3][1] The Latin noun comes from ēloquēns, the present participle of ēloquor (“to speak out, express oneself”), from loquor (“to speak”).^[4][5][6]

The Latin word was borrowed in the other Romance languages too: Italian eloquenza, Occitan eloquencia, Catalan eloqüència, Spanish elocuencia and Portuguese eloquência.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Wace's poem on the Conception of the Virgin (1130–1140), of a woman who “was of great eloquence, and spoke with great wisdom”: the gift of expressing oneself well and persuading.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

From the first the word had its Latin meaning, the ability to speak with ease, to move and to persuade.^[8] In the 17th century it came to name a literary genre including the sermon, the eulogy and the speech; the sense “prose literature” has since gone out of use.^[8]

From the middle of the 17th century, beginning with a text attributed to Pascal, it also means the quality of what persuades the heart or mind, and of what is expressive without words: the eloquence of a look or of facts.^[2][8][9]

Timeline

• 1130–1140 – First record, in Wace.^[2]
• late 12th century – Marie de France uses it in the prologue to her Lais.^[9][7]
• mid-17th century – The Discours sur les passions de l'amour uses it for expressiveness.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. eloquence: the gift of speaking well and with ease.^[4][6]
2. The art of moving and persuading by speech, also as a genre: éloquence politique, judiciaire, religieuse.^[4][9]
3. The quality of what is expressive or convincing without words, as in l’éloquence d’un regard.^[6][2]

Related words

• éloquent
• éloquemment
• élocution
• grandiloquence
• loquace
• Latin ēloquentia

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 216a
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse