devin

Forms

devin m (plural devins, feminine devineresse)^[1] Old French divin (about 1119), later devin.^[2][3] The old feminine devine gave way to devineresse.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French devin, inherited from Late Latin dēvīnus (“soothsayer”), which arose by dissimilation from Latin dīvīnus (“divine, soothsayer”).^[2][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and the Petit Robert give the Late Latin form as a reconstructed popular form.^[6][7][8] The Latin noun is the adjective used as a noun; it already meant “soothsayer” in classical Latin, and the adjective, from dīvus (“god”), gave the learned divin.^[3][6][7] According to Rey, the word first passed into French in the form with ⟨i⟩ and was remade with ⟨e⟩ under the influence of the Late Latin form.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan devin.^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1119, in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, divin meant a theologian; the sense “person who practises divination” follows about 1160 in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “theologian” went out of use toward the end of the 13th century, leaving the present meaning, a person who practises divination.^[2][3] The feminine devineresse (Wace, about 1155) was at first the feminine of devineur; displaced there by devineuse, it became the feminine of devin and ousted the old feminine devine.^[2][3] For a time the senses of devin and devineur overlapped.^[3]

Today devin is used only of people given to the occult sciences, of the diviners of antiquity, and of the diviners of societies in which religious divination is normal.^[3] The familiar je ne suis pas devin means “I cannot know that”.^[8][7][9] In 1803 Boiste recorded it as a name of the boa constrictor, which Littré also calls serpent devin.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Divin “theologian” appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses the feminine divineresse in the Brut.^[2]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas uses it for a practitioner of divination.^[2][3]
• Late 13th century – Last record of the sense “theologian”, in the glossary Abavus.^[2]
• 1803 – Boiste records it as a name of the boa constrictor.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A soothsayer or seer: a person who claims to discover hidden things or foretell the future by means beyond ordinary knowledge.^[8][2]
2. (familiar) Je ne suis pas devin: I cannot guess or know that.^[8][7]
3. (dated) The boa constrictor, also serpent devin.^[2][9]

Related words

• divin
• deviner
• devineur
• Latin dīvīnus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 109a
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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 d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette