classique

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kla.sik/^[1]

Forms

classique (plural classiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin classicus (“of the first class; first-rate”),^[2][3][4][5] the adjective of Latin classis (“class”) (see classe): the “classici” were the citizens of the first of the five classes into which Romans were divided by wealth.^[3][4] In the 2nd century Aulus Gellius advised consulting the “classici”, not the “proletarii”, on good usage, whence “classici scriptores” “first-rate writers”.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thomas Sébillet's Art poétique françois (1548) recommends the reading des bons et classiques poétes françois, the best poets, as models.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Cotgrave (1611) has it for what serves as a model, an authority, and Richelet (1680) for authors taught in the classes.^[2][3] With Voltaire and the Encyclopédie (1753) it was applied to the French writers of the age of Louis XIV, who imitated the Ancients with measure and reason.^[3][4] In the 19th century it was opposed to romantique (Mme de Staël, 1810), and in music Rousseau (1768) used it of what follows the rules of the art.^[2][3]

In ordinary use it took the sense “not departing from established usage” (before 1826) and, by weakening, “usual, normal” (Lamarck, 1809, c'est classique !).^[2][3] Une classique is a major one-day cycle race (1896) or a great horse race, and a climbing route (1910).^[3][6][7] Classicisme dates from 1817 (Stendhal).^[3]

Timeline

• 1548 – Classiques poétes in Sébillet.^[2]
• 1611 – “Authoritative”, in Cotgrave.^[2]
• 1680 – “Taught in schools”, in Richelet.^[2]
• 1753 – French authors of the 17th century.^[2]
• 1768 – In music, in Rousseau.^[2]
• 1809 – “Usual”, in Lamarck.^[2]
• 1810 – Classique vs romantique in Mme de Staël.^[2]
• 1817 – Classicisme.^[3]
• 1896 – A classic race.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Classical: of Greek and Roman antiquity: langues classiques, études classiques.^[8][9]
2. Of the French 17th century: le théâtre classique, (music) musique classique.^[8][6]
3. Classic, authoritative, model: un ouvrage devenu classique.^[8][1]
4. Conventional, traditional: une coupe classique, (familiar) usual, typical: c'est classique !.^[2][6]

Noun

1. A classic (author or work): un classique du jazz, les classiques.^[6][1]
2. Classical music: écouter du classique.^[6][1]
3. (feminine) A classic race (cycling, horse racing).^[6][3]

Word family

• classicisme
• classiquement
• classicisme
• néo-classique

Related words

• classe
• Latin classicus
• English classic

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 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 k l m 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 745a
6. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse