diocèse

Forms

diocèse m (plural diocèses)^[1] Old French dyocheze, diocise, dioces; feminine until the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dioecēsis (“administrative district”), used in Christian Latin for the district of a bishop.^[2][5][4] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek διοίκησις (dioíkēsis, “housekeeping, administration, province”), from διοικέω (dioikéō, “to manage, administer”), formed with a prefix on οἴκησις (oíkēsis), from οἰκέω (oikéō, “to dwell, manage”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”).^[5][3][1] The Greek root is also that of œcuménique.^[5]

The word was feminine, like its Latin source, until the 16th century.^[2][3][4] Compare Italian diocesi, Portuguese diocese and Old Occitan diocesa.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is dyocheze in the Miracles of Gautier de Coinci (about 1223), for the district administered by a bishop;^[2] the DHLF and Bloch and Wartburg date the word to about 1180.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word entered French as a term of canon law.^[5] A general sense, “place where something is administered”, recorded by Estienne in 1549, did not last.^[2][5] In the 17th century it was taken again from Latin as a term of Roman history, for an administrative district of the late Roman Empire, first feminine (1678) and then masculine (1680).^[2][5]

The adjective diocésain was formed in 1265 from Christian Latin diocesanus.^[5][4]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Earliest date given by the DHLF and Bloch and Wartburg.^[5][4]
• c. 1223 – Dyocheze in Gautier de Coinci's Miracles.^[2]
• 1265 – The adjective diocésain appears.^[5][4]
• 1549 – Estienne records a general sense “place of administration”.^[2]
• 16th century – Calvin still uses the word as a feminine.^[2][3]
• 1678 – It is used for a district of the Roman Empire.^[2][5]
• 1680 – Richelet records it as masculine.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A diocese, the territory under the jurisdiction of a bishop or an archbishop: le diocèse de Lyon.^[6][2][7]
2. (Roman history) An administrative district of the late Roman Empire, grouping several provinces under a vicar.^[6][8][3]

Word family

• archidiocèse
• diocésain

Related words

• œcuménique
• Latin dioecēsis
• Ancient Greek διοίκησις (dioíkēsis)

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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse