Etymologically
Log in

diatribe

Etymology and origin of the French word diatribe

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1558, Simon Fontaine
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (διατριβή)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French diatribe
English diatribe

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dja.tʁib/[1]

Forms

diatribe f (plural diatribes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin diatriba (“discussion; school”),[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ), literally “a wearing away”, whence “pastime” and “study, philosophical discourse”, from Ancient Greek διατρίβω (diatríbō, “to rub away; to spend (time)”), from “dia-” and “tribein” “to rub, wear”.[3][1][6][7] Rey mentions a comparison of the stem with Latin “detrimentum” (see détriment).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Simon Fontaine's Histoire catholique de nostre temps (1558) has it in an uncertain sense, a school discussion.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Chapelain (1638) used it for a critical dissertation on a work or a point of doctrine (des diatribes sur les principales matières controversées de la primitive Église).[2][8] With Voltaire (1734 according to Bloch and Wartburg, Dictionnaire philosophique, 1764, according to the TLFi) it came to mean a bitter, violent and often abusive criticism.[4][2][3] English diatribe (1640s) first meant a learned discourse, and took the sense of invective by 1804, apparently from French.[7]

Timeline

  • 1558 – In Simon Fontaine.[2]
  • 1638 – A critical dissertation, in Chapelain.[2]
  • 1640s – English diatribe.[7]
  • 1734 – Invective, in Voltaire.[4]
  • 1764 – In Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A diatribe, bitter attack: une violente diatribe contre le régime.[9][10]
  2. (classical) A critical dissertation.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Diatribe.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/diatribe. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·