aspect

Forms

aspect m (plural aspects)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin aspectus (“look, sight, appearance”),^[2][3][4] the action noun of aspiciō (“to look at”),^[3][4] which is formed of ad- and speciō (“to see, look”).^[4][5] The Latin noun meant a look from Cicero on, a view or outlook in Apuleius, and appearance from Cato on.^[2] It is related to speciēs (“sight, appearance”), the source of espèce.^[4]

Cognate with Spanish aspecto and Italian aspetto.^[5] The grammatical sense is a calque of Russian вид (vid, “aspect, look”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the second quarter of the 15th century, is in a translation of Frontinus, in the sense “look, gaze”.^[2] Rey dates the phrase estre en l'aspect de “to be under the eyes of, face to face with” to 1450.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th and 16th centuries aspect often meant “look, gaze”, like the Latin word.^[3][4] In astrology it named the relative position of the stars, thought to govern their influence (1467 or 1513), a sense taken over by astronomy.^[4][2][6] From Rabelais (1546) it meant the outlook or orientation of a place or building, a sense the Larousse of the 19th century calls dated and that survives regionally.^[2][4]

The modern sense, “the way someone or something looks, appearance”, is found in Cotgrave (1611); since 1684 it has also been used abstractly for the side or angle from which a matter presents itself.^[2][4] In grammar it has named, since a Russian grammar of 1828, the way a verb presents the action as ongoing or completed.^[2][4] The adjective aspectuel (1958) replaced aspectif (1922).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1425–1450 – First record, “look, gaze”, in a translation of Frontinus.^[2]
• 1450 – Estre en l'aspect de.^[4]
• 1513 – Astrological sense in L'estoille du monde.^[2][6]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it of the orientation of an island.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave defines it as “the visage, or countenance”.^[2]
• 1684 – Saint-Évremond uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1828 – Used in grammar, of the Slavic languages.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated or literary) The fact of appearing before the eyes; the sight: à l'aspect de “on seeing”, au premier aspect “at first sight”.^[7]
2. The way someone or something looks; appearance, look: un village d'aspect sauvage.^[7][8]
3. (figurative) One of the sides or angles from which a matter can be considered: examiner un problème sous tous ses aspects.^[7][8]
4. (astrology) The angular distance between two heavenly bodies, held to have an influence.^[8][2]
5. (grammar) Aspect: the way a verb presents an action, as ongoing, completed, and so on.^[2][1]

Word family

• aspectuel

Related words

• spectacle
• spectre
• suspect
• espèce
• Latin aspectus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)