Etymologically
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culte

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Pronunciation

Forms

culte m (plural cultes)[1] Also cult (1592, Du Vair).[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cultus (“care, cultivation; worship”),[2][4][5][6] the noun of Latin colere (“to inhabit; to till; to honour, worship”) (see cultiver, culture), from a root “*kwel-”.[4][3] The Latin word was used far more in the moral sense “education, civilisation” and for religious homage than in its proper sense, French took it with its religious meaning.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1532; the first text the TLFi cites is Gentian Hervet's translation of the City of God (1570), for homage paid to a deity or a saint.[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

In 1592 Du Vair used cult for all the practices by which people honour God, liberté des cultes is in the Académie of 1835, and became effective with the law separating Church and State (9 December 1905).[2][4] The same edition has culte for a religion, a confession, and in Switzerland it has named the Protestant service since 1897.[2][4]

The figurative sense “veneration, admiration” (before 1690, Boursault) is very much alive, as in culte de la personnalité and the recent use in apposition, film culte.[2][4][7] Cultuel (1872) was translated from English.[4][5] English cult was borrowed from French culte in the 17th century (1610s, “worship”).[8]

Timeline

  • 1532 – First record, according to Bloch and Wartburg.[5]
  • 1570 – In Gentian Hervet.[2]
  • 1592 – Cult in Du Vair.[2]
  • 1610s – English cult.[8]
  • Before 1690 – “Veneration”, in Boursault.[2]
  • 1835 – Liberté des cultes in the Académie.[2]
  • 1872 – Cultuel.[5]
  • 1897 – A Protestant service (Switzerland).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Worship, homage paid to a deity or saint: le culte des saints, rendre un culte à.[9][7]
  2. Religious practice, rites: lieu de culte, ministre du culte.[9][7]
  3. A religion, faith: le culte catholique, protestant, liberté de culte.[7][1]
  4. A Protestant service.[7][2]
  5. Veneration, devotion: avoir le culte de la justice, culte de la personnalité.[7][1]

Adjective

  1. Cult: un film culte.[7][4]

Word family

  • cultuel
  • cultuel

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1505b
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert