consacrer

Forms

consacrer^[1] Old French cunsecrer and consecrer; the form consacrer is found from 1155.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsecrō (“to make sacred by dedicating to the gods”), first as Old French cunsecrer, consecrer.^[2][3][4] The vowel of the second syllable was soon reshaped after sacrer, giving the present form by 1155.^[2][3][4] The Latin verb is formed from cum and sacrō (“to consecrate”);^[3][5] in Christian Latin it was used of consecrating the bread and wine of the Mass.^[2][3] Wiktionary treats the Old French verb as the ancestor of the modern one.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan consecrar, Spanish consagrar and Italian consacrare.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, cunsecrer in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121), means “to dedicate to God”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept its religious sense, and in 1536 Calvin used it of the priest changing the bread and wine into the body of Christ at Mass.^[2][3] In the 16th century it passed into everyday use with the sense “to devote something wholly to one purpose” (1578), and the reflexive se consacrer “to give oneself up entirely” is recorded in 1680.^[2][3]

The idea of making something sacred also gave the sense “to make honourable or respectable” (Corneille, 1641), which in turn led to “to ratify, to sanction” (Racine, 1669),^[2][3] the sense behind a word or phrase consacré par l'usage “established by usage”.^[3][1]

Timeline

• 1121 – Cunsecrer “to dedicate to God” appears in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[2]
• 1155 – The form consacrer is found in Wace's Brut.^[2]
• 1536 – Calvin uses it of consecrating the bread and wine.^[2][3]
• 1578 – Henri Estienne uses it for devoting something to one purpose.^[2]
• 1641 – Corneille uses it in the sense “to make honourable”.^[2]
• 1669 – Racine uses it in the sense “to ratify, to sanction”.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records se consacrer “to give oneself up entirely”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make sacred by dedicating to God or a god, to consecrate: consacrer une chapelle.^[6][2]
2. (Christianity) To consecrate the bread and wine at Mass; also used without an object.^[6][2]
3. To devote or give (time, effort, one's life) to something: elle consacre ses soirées à la musique.^[6][7][1]
4. Se consacrer à: to devote oneself to: il se consacre à ses recherches.^[7][2]
5. To sanction or establish, especially through usage: un mot consacré par l'usage.^[3][1]

Related words

• sacrer
• consécration
• Latin cōnsecrō

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)