absurde

Forms

absurde (plural absurdes)^[1] Old French absorde, Middle French absourde until the 16th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin absurdus (“dissonant, incongruous”),^[2][3][4][5] first as inherited from Old French absorde in the early 13th century;^[2][6] the modern spelling is found in Raoul de Presles (1371–1375), and absourde still in 1529.^[2] The TLFi suggests that the forms with /o/ and /ou/ may owe something to the French word sourd.^[2]

The Latin adjective first meant out of tune, as in Cicero, where it describes a jarring voice;^[2] Terence already used it for what is unfitting or contrary to sense.^[2] The DHLF analyses it as ab- and surdus (“inaudible, deaf”), with the same sense as absonus.^[3] Littré doubted this analysis and took the Latin word to mean sounding badly.^[7]

Cognate with Occitan absurde, Spanish absurdo, Portuguese absurdo and Italian assurdo.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as absorde in the early 13th century, in Nicole's verse translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict, meaning “contrary to common sense”, of a thing.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From Old French on it meant “contrary to reason”, at first only of things and statements, the classical use.^[2][3] At the end of the classical period it was applied to people as well, as the Académie recorded in 1798.^[2] In 1548 Thomas Sébillet used it once in the Latin sense “jarring to the ear”.^[2]

As a noun, un absurde “an absurd thing” is found in Montaigne and in Nicot and Cotgrave, but later dictionaries drop it in favour of absurdité.^[2][3][7] The scholastic ab absurdo was replaced by par l'absurde from the early 17th century, when mathematicians and philosophers began to write in French.^[2][3] In the 20th century Camus (1942) gave it a philosophical value, especially as a noun: la philosophie de l'absurde.^[3][8]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Absorde appears in a verse translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict.^[2]
• 1371–1375 – Raoul de Presles uses the form absurde, and absurdité is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1529 – The form absourde is still used by Colin Bucher.^[2]
• 1549 – The adverb absurdement is recorded.^[3]
• 16th century – Montaigne uses un absurde as a noun.^[2][7]
• 1798 – The Académie records démonstration par l'absurde and its use of people.^[2]
• 1942 – Camus gives the word its philosophical sense.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Contrary to reason or common sense: un projet absurde.^[9][8]
2. Of a person: speaking or acting unreasonably.^[9][8]
3. (logic) Breaking the rules of logic.^[9]
4. (philosophy) Of the human condition, seen by the existentialists as without meaning.^[8]

Noun

1. What is absurd: tomber dans l'absurde;^[2][9][8] raisonnement par l'absurde, a proof showing that the contrary leads to a contradiction.^[2][9][8]
2. (philosophy) Philosophie de l'absurde: the view, in Sartre and Camus, that the world has no meaning.^[8]

Word family

• absurdement

Related words

• absurdité
• sourd
• Latin absurdus

Usage notes

The pronunciation /aps/ with a voiceless /p/ before /s/ was first noted by Nodier in 1844.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 58b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert