célibat

Forms

célibat m (usually uncountable, plural célibats)^[1] Montaigne wrote coelibat.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin caelibātus (“celibacy”), found from Seneca on, derived from caelebs (“unmarried”), which is recorded from Plautus.^{[3][4][5][1][6]}

Rey notes that the Latin adjective looks like a popular word and that it has been compared with Sanskrit and Old Church Slavonic words meaning “alone”, without the relation being explained.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1549, in Robert Estienne's dictionary;^[3][7][2] Montaigne, before 1580, writes of le coelibat des prebtres “the celibacy of priests”.^[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used in a religious setting, of priests, and came to mean the state of anyone who is not married.^[4] As a euphemism it was used from 1845 for a period of chastity within marriage, a sense the Petit Robert marks as dated.^[4][3][8]

The derivative célibataire is recorded late, in 1711, and became the usual opposite of marié.^[4][5] It is used in apposition in mère célibataire (1961), which replaced the pejorative fille-mère.^[4]

Timeline

• 1549 – Robert Estienne records célibat.^[3][7]
• Before 1580 – Montaigne writes of the celibacy of priests.^[3][2]
• 1711 – Célibataire is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1845 – Used of a period of chastity within marriage.^[3][4]
• 1961 – Mère célibataire appears.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state of a person who is not married, or has never married, celibacy, as in il a choisi le célibat.^[8][3][2][1]
2. Célibat ecclésiastique: the celibacy of the Catholic clergy, which follows from their vow of chastity.^[8]
3. (dated) Chastity, sexual abstinence, especially a period of it within marriage.^[8][7][3][1]

Word family

• célibataire

Related words

• Latin caelebs

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. 2, 34a
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert