Etymologically
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classique

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 22:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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