chapelain

Forms

chapelain m (plural chapelains)^[1] Old French chapelein;^[2][3] Picard capelain.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include chapelein, capelein and chaplein.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French chapelle + -ain.^{[2][5][6][7][8]} Medieval Latin had capellānus (“cleric attached to a lord's court or serving a chapel”) from 741, and the French word may have been influenced by it;^[2][5] Wiktionary derives it from the Latin word directly.^[1] The base chapelle is from Vulgar Latin *cappella, a diminutive of cappa (“hooded cloak”), first used of the place where the cloak of Saint Martin of Tours was kept.^[7][8]

Cognate with Old Occitan capelan, Catalan capellà, Spanish capellán and Italian cappellano.^[3] French also has capelan, a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) has chapelein for a cleric in charge of a chapel who draws its revenue.^[2][5] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has an earlier insular record, from 1113–1119, for a priest attached to a household.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From about 1170 the word was used for a priest in the personal service of the king or of a great person.^[2][5] The older sense, the holder of a chapel's benefice, is now historical,^[5][2] and the word today is used for a priest who serves a private or independent chapel, as in a château, a school or a hospital.^[2][9] Littré also records the chaplains of the royal household and the chapelains du pape, the judges of the Sacred Palace.^[3]

Middle English took the word from Old French as chaplain in the mid-14th century, replacing the late Old English capellane taken from Medieval Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• 1155 – Chapelein in Wace's Roman de Brut.^[2][6]
• c. 1170 – Used of a priest in the king's personal service, in Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[2]
• 1301 – First record of the derivative chapellenie, in a Picard form.^[2]
• Mid-14th century – English borrows it as chaplain.^[10]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense “paid priest”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A cleric holding a chapel and drawing its benefice.^[2][11][3]
2. A priest who serves a private or independent chapel, a chaplain: le chapelain du collège.^[2][9][11]
3. (historical) One of the clergy of the king's or a prince's household chapel.^[3]

Word family

• chapellenie

Related words

• chapelle
• capelan
• Medieval Latin capellānus
• English chaplain

Usage notes

The proverb comme chante le chapelain répond le sacristain says that subordinates take their tone from their superior.^[2] During the Revolution chapelain also named a member of the Club de la Sainte-Chapelle.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF