bannissement

Forms

bannissement m (plural bannissements)^[1] Anglo-Norman banisement, banissement.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French bannir + -ment, on the stem ⟨banniss-⟩.^[3][4][5][1] The verb is from Frankish *bannjan, found about 700 in the Latinized form Medieval Latin bannire.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the early 13th century it meant the proclamation of a feudal ban;^[4][3] Beaumanoir uses it in 1283 for the exile of a person.^[7][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Before the 14th century the word had lost its feudal sense of “proclaiming a ban” and kept only that of exiling or driving out, both in law and in everyday use.^[3] The Anglo-Norman texts have it at the end of the 13th century,^[2] and in the Middle French criminal registers of the Châtelet it is a penalty forcing someone to leave a territory and never return.^[9] About 1580 it developed the abstract sense “proscription, suppression”, now literary.^[3] In modern law it was a political, infamous criminal penalty forbidding the convicted person to live in the country for a fixed time.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – First record, according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[5]
• Early 13th century – Used of the proclamation of a ban.^[4][3]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it of exile.^[7][8]
• Late 13th century – Recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[2]
• 1389–1392 – The criminal register of the Châtelet uses it of a legal penalty.^[9]
• c. 1580 – The abstract sense “proscription, suppression” appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of banishing someone; the state of being banished, exil.^[11][10][8]
2. (law) A political criminal penalty forbidding the convicted person to stay in the country for a set time.^[10][11][7]
3. By extension, the act of sending a person away from oneself or from a place.^[7]
4. (figurative, literary) The rejection or suppression of something held to be harmful.^[7][3]

Related words

• bannir
• ban
• bannissable
• forban

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c 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. 15/1, 65b
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert