caprice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ka.pʁis/^[1]

Forms

caprice m (plural caprices)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian capriccio,^[2][3][4][1] which first meant “a shiver of fear or horror” (13th century) and then, in the 16th century, “a sudden odd desire, a whimsical idea”.^[2][3][5] The Italian word comes from capo (“head”), from Latin caput (“head”), through a form caporiccio (“bristling head”), perhaps because hair stands on end with fright.^[3][6][4] Rey thinks the change of sense was helped by caper (“goat”), and Littré explained the word as a goat's leap;^[3][7] the Petit Robert still connects it with the goat.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1558 in Bonaventure des Périers' Nouvelles récréations, of whims or wild impulses caused by hot blood.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

A 16th-century writer noted quel caprice! as a phrase of the new Italianising French, and Henri Estienne defined the caprice as a will that comes suddenly without reason.^[7] Classical writers saw it as a disorder of the mind close to folly,^[3][6] while Romanticism revalued it as an artistic work of free fancy, the sense behind the musical capriccio (about 1800).^[3]

Avoir un caprice pour quelqu'un came to mean a sudden, passing love (Nerval).^[6][3] The adjective capricieux (1584) was borrowed from Italian capriccioso.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Italian capriccio “shiver of fear”.^[2][5]
• 1558 – First French record, in Bonaventure des Périers.^[2][9]
• 1565 – Used by Ronsard.^[4][6]
• 1584 – Capricieux is borrowed.^[3][4]
• 1690 – Furetière's dictionary records it as a work of art breaking the rules.^[6]
• about 1800 – The Italian form capriccio is taken into music.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whim, a sudden and unreasoned wish.^[8][10]
2. A child's tantrum: faire un caprice.^[1][8]
3. A brief, passing love affair or infatuation.^[8][6]
4. (chiefly plural) Sudden, unpredictable changes: les caprices de la mode, du temps.^[8][11]
5. (art, music) A free, fanciful work.^[6][11]

Word family

• capricieux

Related words

• capriccio
• chef
• Latin caput
• English caprice

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)