bêtise

Forms

bêtise f (countable and uncountable, plural bêtises)^[1] First written bestise.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French bête + -ise.^[1][3][4][2] The noun bête goes back to Latin bestia (“beast”).^[4] Littré notes that the older word was Middle French besterie, used by Monstrelet in the 15th century and by Rabelais.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears as bestise in the 15th century and is taken up again in the early 16th century, before 1520; the GLLF cites Claude de Seyssel (1512).^[2][6] It meant a lack of intelligence.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the lack of intelligence, the word came to mean a stupid act or remark, and a thing of no value.^[2][5] In 1830 it was used of something hard to believe, a joke, in c'te bêtise !.^[2][7]

In confectionery it named a kind of caramel sweet (1918, in Anatole France) and then a mint humbug that became a speciality of Cambrai (1929); Rey thinks this comes from the sense “trifle” rather than from a story of a mistake in the recipe.^[2][8] In Canadian French the plural means insults (1912).^[9] The derivatives bêtiser “to talk nonsense” and bêtisier are recorded in 1821.^[2]

Timeline

• 15th century – Bestise is first recorded.^[2][4]
• 1512 – Claude de Seyssel uses it.^[6]
• 1821 – The derivatives bêtiser and bêtisier appear.^[2]
• 1830 – C'te bêtise ! is recorded.^[2]
• 1912 – The plural is used for insults in Canada.^[9]
• 1918 – It names a caramel sweet.^[2][8]
• 1929 – The bêtise de Cambrai is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lack of intelligence and judgement; stupidity.^[9][8][5]
2. A stupid act or remark: faire des bêtises, dire des bêtises.^[9][6]
3. A trifle, a thing of little value or importance.^[9][8]
4. (confectionery) Bêtise de Cambrai: a mint-flavoured boiled sweet made in Cambrai.^[8][2][1]
5. (Canada) In the plural, insults.^[9]

Word family

• bêtisier

Related words

• bête
• bêta
• Latin bestia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert