caractère

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ka.ʁak.tɛʁ/^[1]

Forms

caractère m (plural caractères)^[1] Karactere (1274), caratere (1372), carathere (1550), charactere (1567); caractère from 1596.^[2][3] Old French had popular forms such as caracte and charai, meaning a spell.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin charactēr (“brand; mark; style; character”), from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “engraver; stamp, mark; distinctive nature”).^{[5][2][6][1][7]} The Greek noun is derived from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to sharpen; to engrave, inscribe”), a technical word without an established Indo-European etymology, perhaps related to Lithuanian žeriù “to scratch”.^[5][4] In Latin it meant a manner of style (Varro), then a manner of being, as well as a brand on an animal, the mark of a coin, a written sign and, in Christian writers, the mark of baptism.^[5]

Bloch and Wartburg think the sense “distinctive trait” was taken directly from Greek in the 16th century.^[6] Littré notes that the learned form replaced older popular ones built on the Latin stress, which meant a magic sign.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before the learned form, the 12th-century chronicle of Benoît speaks of caractes, magic signs that made a man invulnerable;^[4][2][5] karactere is recorded in 1274.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century caractère meant an imprint (1372) and the sign of a sacrament (1389–92).^[2] From 1550 it named a sign of writing, a letter (les caratheres des lettres grecques), then a sign used in arithmetic or chemistry (1567) and a printing type (before 1589).^[2][8] In classical French it also named a talisman marked with a magic sign, as in Molière.^[9]

From Pascal (before 1662) it took the senses of a distinctive feature of a thing and of the set of moral traits of a person (Diseur de bons mots, mauvais caractère), whence firmness of character, avoir du caractère.^[2] La Bruyère's Caractères (1688) made it the name of a literary portrait.^[2][9] It was extended to the genera of plants (1704) and, in the Académie of 1798, to the expressive quality of music.^[2]

Timeline

• 12th century – Caractes, magic signs, in Benoît.^[4]
• 1274 – Karactere.^[2]
• 1372 – Caratere “imprint”.^[2]
• 1550 – Carathere, a written sign.^[2][8]
• 1596 – The spelling caractère.^[2][3]
• Before 1662 – Pascal: a person's moral nature.^[2]
• 1704 – In botany, a distinguishing feature of a genus.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A written or printed character, a letter or sign: caractères grecs, écrire en gros caractères; in computing, a character of an alphabet.^[10][1]
2. A distinctive feature or quality of a thing: le caractère confidentiel d'un document.^[2][1]
3. A person's nature, temperament: avoir bon, mauvais caractère.^[10][1]
4. Strength of character, firmness: avoir du caractère.^[2][10]
5. Individual style, originality.^[10]
6. (literature) A character portrait: les Caractères of La Bruyère.^[9][2]
7. (classical) A talisman marked with a magic sign.^[9][2]

Word family

• caractériel
• caractériser

Related words

• caractéristique
• Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 623b
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert