curé

Forms

curé m (plural curés)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin cūrātus (“one who has the cure of souls”), a word recorded from the 11th century but very rare in the Middle Ages.^[2][3] The TLFi derives the Latin word from cūra (“care”) (see cure²),^[2] while the Robert dictionaries and Rey derive it from cūrō (“to take care of”).^[4][5][3] Littré rejects an older attempt to connect it with Latin cūriō (“priest of a curia”), which the form of the word does not allow.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1259, in Rutebeuf, for the man at the head of a parish.^[2][3] Littré quotes Rutebeuf's complaint that the monks have wealth while the curez can hardly buy bread or a little book to say compline from.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its first sense, the priest in charge of a parish under the bishop's authority.^[2][5] By 1845 it was used familiarly of any priest or cleric, often with an anticlerical tone;^[2][3] the GLLF dates this extended sense to Larousse in 1866.^[7] The same anticlerical spirit produced the pejorative derivatives curaille (late 19th century) “priests as a body”, curaillon (20th century) and cureton (1916; in 1798 the convicts' word for the prisoner who read grace).^[3] The popular phrase manger or bouffer du curé means to speak against the clergy.^[7][5]

Timeline

• 1259 – First recorded in Rutebeuf, of the head of a parish.^[2]
• 1798 – Cureton appears in prisoners' slang.^[3]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records it of any cleric.^[2]
• 1866 – Larousse records the extended familiar sense.^[7]
• 1916 – Cureton is recorded in its modern pejorative use.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Catholic priest in charge of a paroisse, under the authority of the bishop: le curé du village est venu bénir la maison.^[5][2]
2. (familiar, often pejorative) Any Catholic priest;^[5][8] les curés: the clergy.^[5][8]
3. Bouffer du curé (also manger du curé): to be anticlerical.^[5][7]
4. Fromage de curé: a cow's-milk cheese made in Vendée.^[8]

Word family

• curaille
• curaillon
• cureton

Related words

• cure²
• curer
• Latin cūra

Usage notes

The saying c'est Gros-Jean qui remontre à son curé is said of an ignorant person who presumes to advise someone more skilled.^[6] A separate word curé, curée, the past participle of curer used as an adjective, means “cleaned”, as of a ditch.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)