blasphème

Forms

blasphème m (plural blasphèmes)^[1] Old French blafeme and blasfeme;^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also had blasfemie and blasphemie.^[4] A form blapheme is also found, and in the 16th century the gender varied.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin blasphēmia (“speech that insults God”),^[5][6][7][8] which is from Ancient Greek βλασφημία (blasphēmía, “insult, slander”), in Christian Greek texts “impious speech”.^[5][7] The Greek noun is derived from βλασφημέω (blasphēméō, “to insult, slander”), whose origin is obscure; its second element comes from φήμη (phḗmē, “utterance”), and the first may be linked with βλάβος (blábos, “harm”).^[5]

The Latin verb blasphēmō, from the same Greek source, gave blâmer by popular development, while blasphémer was borrowed from it.^[5][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 12th century (about 1190) in the French Sermons of Saint Bernard,^[8][9][5] which Littré quotes in the form blafeme: Il ne dit mie blafeme el saint Espirit (“he speaks no blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the religious sense of an impious word that insults God.^[5] By extension, without losing its sense of the sacred, it is also said of an insult or imprécation, or of words that outrage a person or thing held to be respectable.^[5][10][8] In Medieval Latin blasphemia had also had weaker, secular senses such as slander and bad reputation;^[5] a 14th-century French text quoted by Littré speaks of donner blaspheme deshonnorable to someone's standing.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – The Sermons of Saint Bernard use it.^[8][2]
• 1212 – The Anglo-Norman form is recorded.^[4]
• 16th century – Calvin writes of blasphemes enormes; the gender of the word wavers.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A word or speech that insults God, religion or what is held sacred: proférer des blasphèmes.^[9][10][2]
2. (by extension) An outrageous or insulting remark about a person or thing considered worthy of respect.^[9][10][8]

Related words

• blasphémer
• blasphématoire
• blâmer
• blâme
• Latin blasphēmia

Usage notes

Littré records that blasphème was sometimes used for blasphémateur “blasphemer”, a use he calls obsolete.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:991
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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