cabale

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ka.bal/^[1]

Forms

cabale f (plural cabales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew קבלה (qabbālā, “tradition; something received”), a word of rabbinical Hebrew,^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} derived from קבל (qibbēl, “to receive by tradition”).^[2][7] Wiktionary has it pass through Medieval Latin cabbala.^[1] The Hebrew word first meant any doctrinal tradition, as opposed to the written law; only in the 13th century did it name a particular esoteric system, whose thinkers were called kabbalists from the 14th.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais (1532) uses it in the broad sense “doctrine handed down by tradition”;^[2][4] King Francis I had the Kabbalah expounded to him by a Franciscan as early as 1519.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Cotgrave (1611) records the Jewish mystical interpretation of the Old Testament based on the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, now usually spelled kabbale.^[2][8] From the 16th century the word also meant an occult science claiming to communicate with supernatural beings (1546), a sense now dated.^[2][8][7]

At the same time, in common use, a cabale was a secret plot against someone or something (1546), and especially, in the 17th century, a claque organized in a theatre to make a play or actor fail; by metonymy it is the group of plotters, as the Duchess of Bouillon's cabale against Racine.^[2][9][7] In the classical language it could also be a circle of friends with no bad sense.^[9] Derivatives include cabaliste, cabalistique (1532) and cabaler (1617).^[3]

Timeline

• 1519 – Francis I has the Kabbalah explained to him.^[2]
• 1532 – Cabale, cabaliste, cabalistique (Rabelais).^[2][3]
• 1546 – An occult science; a secret plot.^[2][8]
• 1611 – The Jewish mystical interpretation (Cotgrave).^[2]
• 1617 – Cabaler.^[3]
• 1631 – A group of plotters (Richelieu).^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A secret plot or intrigue against someone; a cabal, the group of people involved: monter une cabale.^[8][10]
2. A claque organized to make a play or performer fail.^[7][2]
3. (dated) An occult science claiming to deal with supernatural beings.^[8][10]
4. The Kabbalah (usually spelled kabbale).^[8][9]

Word family

• cabaler
• cabaleur
• cabaliste
• cabalistique

Related words

• kabbale
• English cabal
• English Kabbalah

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 12b
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)