dissident

Forms

dissident (feminine dissidente, masculine plural dissidents, feminine plural dissidentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dissidēns (“being apart, disagreeing”), the present participle of dissideō (“to be separated, to be at variance”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and sedeō (“to sit, to be fixed”) (→ seoir).^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in medicine, in a 1539 text by Jean Canappe;^[2][6] before 1560 Tagault speaks of parties dissidentes et desjoinctes, parts that are separated and disjoined.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

After its anatomical start the word was rare until the 18th century.^[4][7] The Trévoux dictionary of 1752 applies it to those who profess a religion other than the Catholic one in Poland;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg date the word from Diderot, 1767, with an isolated 16th-century example.^[8] From there it came to mean anyone who has left a church, a philosophical school or a party over a point of doctrine.^[2][6]

In the middle of the 20th century it took the sense “opponent of a country's ruling ideology”, used above all of the Soviet Union and the people's democracies.^[3] The related noun dissidence is borrowed from Latin dissidentia and became common from 1787.^[3][8] English dissident is taken straight from Latin in the 1530s; its noun use of Polish Protestants dates from 1766.^[9]

Timeline

• 1539 – First recorded in medicine, in Jean Canappe.^[2][6]
• Before 1560 – Tagault writes of parties dissidentes et desjoinctes.^[2][3]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary uses it of non-Catholics in Poland.^[2][3]
• 1767 – Diderot uses it of a religious dissenter.^[8][6]
• 1787 – The noun dissidence becomes current.^[3][8]
• Mid-20th century – It is applied to opponents of the Soviet regime and the people's democracies.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That has broken away from a community, a church or a party over a disagreement of doctrine, that is in dissidence: une faction dissidente.^[7][2][4]

Noun

1. A dissident, someone who opposes a political regime or the prevailing ideology.^[7][1][3]
2. (religion, historical) A dissenter, especially a non-Catholic in Poland.^[5][2][1]

Related words

• dissidence
• seoir
• Latin dissideō

References

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