asile

Forms

asile m (plural asiles)^[1] Usually written asyle from the 16th century;^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg say until the 17th, the GLLF until the 18th, and the Grand Robert until the 19th.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin asylum (“inviolable place, refuge”), a Hellenism, from Ancient Greek ἄσυλον (ásulon, “sacred place”), the neuter used as a noun of ἄσυλος (ásulos, “that cannot be seized or plundered”).^[5][4][2][6] The adjective is formed from the privative ἀ- (a-) and σῦλον (sûlon), whose plural means booty, from the verb συλάω (suláō, “to seize, plunder”).^[5][3] Rey notes a possible kinship with Latin spolia.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1355, in Pierre Bersuire's translation of Livy, in an ancient context: a sacred place where the pursued were safe.^[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle French the right of asylum was a religious notion, and the word was soon applied to similar customs of other times.^[5] Classical French (before 1660, Scarron) widened it to any place of shelter from danger, and to “protection, safeguard” in the abstract; the weaker sense “abode, retreat” belongs to the late 17th and the 18th centuries.^[5] Le dernier asile is the grave.^[3]

From 1859 asile named charitable institutions for the infirm, the old, orphans and above all the insane; in the 19th century an asile or salle d'asile was also a day nursery.^[5][7][3] The phrase asile de fous was usual, but the word left official usage in 1938, when it was replaced by hôpital psychiatrique; it survives in everyday and figurative speech.^[5] In modern law droit d'asile and asile politique refer to the protection a state gives to people persecuted elsewhere.^[8][6][9]

Timeline

• 1355 – First recorded, in Bersuire.^[4][3][5]
• 16th century – The spelling asyle becomes usual.^[2][3]
• before 1660 – Scarron uses it of any shelter.^[5]
• 1859 – Applied to charitable institutions.^[5]
• 1938 – The word disappears from the official vocabulary for mental hospitals.^[5]
• 1955 – The derivative asilaire is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) An inviolable place, such as a temple, where a pursued person could take refuge.^[8][6][7]
2. A place of shelter and safety from danger: chercher asile, donner asile.^[8][3][9]
3. Droit d'asile, asile politique: asylum granted by a state to refugees.^[8][6][9]
4. (literary) A place of peace and rest, a retreat.^[9][3][7]
5. (dated) An institution for the old, the poor or the sick: asile de vieillards, asile de nuit; especially a mental hospital, asile d'aliénés.^[9][3][7][1]

Word family

• asilaire

Related words

• Latin asylum

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a separate asile (its number 2), the robber fly, a large hairy insect, recorded in 1582 and taken from Latin asilus (“gadfly”).^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)