carême

Forms

carême m (plural carêmes)^[1] Old French quaresme, quaramme, karesme, Middle French caresme.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French quaresme, inherited from Vulgar Latin *quaresima, an alteration of Christian Latin quadrāgēsima (“the fortieth (day before Easter)”), short for the phrase with diēs (“day”).^[2][4][5] This Christian sense of the Latin ordinal followed the Church usage of Ancient Greek τεσσαρακοστή (tessarakostḗ).^[4][5] The Vulgar Latin form was shortened as quadrāgintā (“forty”) became *quaranta.^[2]

Cognate with Occitan caresma, Catalan quaresma, Spanish cuaresma and Italian quaresima.^[3] It is a doublet of the learned quadragésime.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as quaresme in 1119, in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, for the period of fasting and abstinence before Easter.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The gender of the word wavered until the 16th century;^[2][4] Cotgrave records it as masculine in 1611.^[2][4] By metonymy it came to mean the fast itself (1541) and the series of sermons preached during Lent (before 1622, Francis de Sales).^[4][2]

Lent gave many familiar and ironic expressions: amoureux de carême (1532 in Rabelais), saint de carême (16th century), face de carême “gaunt face” (1668), tomber comme mars en carême “to come as surely as March in Lent” (14th century) and, conversely, arriver comme marée en carême “to come just when wanted” (1762).^[4][2]

In the French of the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa the word is used for the Ramadan fast, and in the Indian Ocean for any ritual fast, whatever the religion; in the Antilles it names the hot dry season from January to May.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1119 – Quaresme appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• 12th century – Quaramme in a sermon of Saint Bernard.^[3]
• Late 12th century – First record of carême-prenant, the days before Lent.^[4]
• 1251 – Mi-carême is recorded, according to Bloch and Wartburg;^[5] Rey dates it to 1264.^[4]
• 14th century – Comme mars en carême appears.^[4][3]
• 1532 – Rabelais uses amoureux de karesme.^[2]
• 1541 – It names the Lenten fast itself.^[4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records it as a masculine noun.^[2]
• Before 1622 – Francis de Sales uses it for the Lent sermons.^[2]
• 1668 – Face de carême “gaunt face” appears.^[4]
• 1762 – Arriver comme marée en carême is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lent: the forty-six days of penance between Mardi Gras and Easter, with fasting and abstinence for Catholics.^[2][7]
2. The fast kept during this period: faire carême.^[7][6]
3. A series of Lenten sermons.^[2][6]
4. (Africa) The fast of Ramadan.^[6][4]
5. (Antilles) The dry season.^[6][8]
6. (familiar) Face de carême: a thin, sad face.^[8][9]

Word family

• mi-carême
• carême-prenant

Related words

• quadragésime
• quarante
• Latin quadrāgēsima

Usage notes

The proverbial arriver comme mars en carême means to come inevitably, and comme marée en carême to come at the right moment.^[7][9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse