créature

Forms

créature f (plural créatures)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin creātūra, a word of Christian Latin meaning first “the act of creation”, then “what is created”, and especially man.^[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed on creātum, the supine of creō (“to create, produce”).^[4][5] Picoche places it in a family of Latin words going back to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *k(e)rē- expressing “seed” and “growth”, with crēscō (“to grow”).^[6] The sense “a person who owes their position to someone” is probably after Italian creatura, which had it in the first half of the 14th century.^[2][6][7]

Cognate with Occitan creatura and Spanish criadura.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the middle of the 11th century in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning a human being.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged at first to religious language: a human being (about 1050), and man as opposed to God the Creator (Wace, 1130–40).^[2][3] It also came to be said of animals and of non-human beings likened to man, usually diabolical or strange ones, such as Frankenstein's creature.^[3] Old and Middle French used it widely for any person, as in Froissart's si gente creature of a lady.^[8]

In the 16th century the word became secular: a person who owes their situation to someone and serves him (1558, Marguerite de Navarre), with a pejorative tone from 1578;^[2][3] this sense has aged before the more neutral protégé.^[3] Littré records the special use for the cardinals created by a given pope.^[8] The pejorative sense “woman spoken of without respect” is recorded before 1696 in Mme de Sévigné;^[2][3] it too has aged, but créature with an adjective is still said of a woman, also in praise, as in une créature de rêve.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – First record, in the Vie de saint Alexis, for a human being.^[2][5]
• 1130–1140 – Wace uses it of man as opposed to God.^[2]
• 1558 – Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron uses it of a person who owes their position to another's favour.^[2]
• 1578 – Henri Estienne uses that sense pejoratively.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records the word, as in every edition to 1932.^[2]
• before 1696 – Mme de Sévigné uses it of a woman spoken of without respect.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A being that has been created, especially by God, as opposed to the Créateur.^[7][9][2]
2. A human being, a person: une créature humaine.^[7][10]
3. An imaginary or strange being, such as one created by a writer or artist: une créature venue des profondeurs.^[9][7][10]
4. (familiar, with an adjective) A woman: une créature de rêve.^[7][9]
5. (dated, pejorative) A woman of loose morals.^[7][9]
6. (figurative) A person who owes their fortune or position to someone, to whom they are devoted: a protégé.^[7][9]
7. (historical) A cardinal considered as appointed by a given pope.^[8]

Related words

• créateur
• création
• créer
• Latin creātūra
• English creature

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)