bénir

Forms

bénir^[1] Old French beneïr, in three syllables, beside beneïstre.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French beneïr, inherited from Latin benedīcō (“to speak well of, to praise, to bless”), with the loss of the /d/ between vowels.^[4][2][5][6] The Latin verb is formed from bene (“well”) and dīcō (“to say”), literally “to say good things” of someone, the source also of bien and dire.^[2][7][8] Constructed with the dative it meant “to praise”; in Christian Latin it came to mean to praise and glorify God, then, with God as the subject, to grant favours to someone, to call down divine help on someone, and to consecrate something by a rite.^[4][2] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Church used it to translate a Greek verb of the Church, itself a rendering of a Hebrew one.^[5]

The past participle benëit, the source of bénit, was formed after a Latin form with a long /iː/; the regular form with a short /i/ gave benoît and benêt.^[4][2] The later participle béni lost its final /t/ on the model of participles such as fini.^[4][2]

Cognate with Italian benedire, Old Occitan benezir, Catalan beneir, Spanish bendecir and Portuguese benzer.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland in the three senses it inherited from Christian Latin: of God, to grant his blessing; of a priest, to call God's blessing on people (l'arcevesque de Deu les beneïst “the archbishop blessed them in God's name”); and of a layman, to wish someone happiness solemnly.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The Oxford Psalter (early 12th century) uses it for praising and glorifying God in thanks, and in the second half of the 12th century it is used for extolling something one is pleased with.^[4][2] About 1170 it is recorded in the sense of consecrating something by a ritual, as a church, a bell or water.^[4] An ironic use of the secular senses was reinforced by pejorative derivatives such as bénisseur (1863).^[2]

The two participles were long used side by side; the division between bénit, said of things consecrated by a priest (eau bénite, pain bénit), and béni for all other uses was worked out in the 17th century and became settled only in the 19th.^[2][5] Bénitier “holy-water font” (1680) is a remaking, after eau bénite, of Old French benoitier (1288).^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses beneïr of God, of a priest and of a layman.^[4]
• early 12th century – The Oxford Psalter has the sense “to praise and glorify God”.^[4]
• c. 1170 – Aymeri de Narbonne uses it for consecrating by a rite.^[4]
• c. 1225 – The participle benëite is recorded as an adjective.^[4][2]
• 1288 – Old French benoitier, the ancestor of bénitier, is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1493 – The adjective bénit appears.^[2]
• 1680 – Bénitier is remade after eau bénite.^[2]
• 1863 – Bénisseur is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of God, to grant one's blessing and protection to someone: Dieu vous bénisse, said to a person who has just sneezed.^[8][9][10]
2. Of a priest or minister, to call God's blessing on people: le pasteur bénit l'assemblée.^[8][10]
3. To consecrate a thing by a religious rite: bénir une chapelle.^[4][3]
4. To praise and glorify God.^[4][11]
5. To be thankful for someone or something, to speak of it with gratitude: je bénis le jour de notre rencontre.^[8][4]

Word family

• bénit
• bénitier
• bénisseur
• rebénir

Related words

• béni
• benoît
• benêt
• bénédiction
• bien
• dire
• Latin benedīcō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 323b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)