Etymologically
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espèce

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛs.pɛs/[1]

Forms

espèce f (plural espèces)[1] First written espesse (12th century); the spelling espèce is used from the 13th century.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin speciēs (“sight, look; appearance, aspect; type; particular case; category”).[3][2][4][5] The sense “subdivision of a genus” renders Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) in the language of philosophy, as genre renders γένος (génos).[4][2] In Christian Latin “speciēs” also meant the matter of a sacrament, said of baptismal salt, and in imperial Latin “goods, wares”.[3][2] The Latin noun is derived from speciō (“to look at”), which Rey connects, like the Frankish verb behind épier, with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[2]

The same Latin word gave the older borrowing épice “spice”, its doublet.[1][6][7] Cognate with Italian specie, Spanish especie and Portuguese espécie.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in a manuscript of the Vie de saint Alexis (12th century), is the isolated phrase vraie espesse “a true sign, a revelation of God”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Jean de Meun (1269–78) uses it for a kind of living beings, here the human race, humaine espece is found in 1370 and espèce humaine in the 18th century.[3][2] From 1314 it means more generally “category, sort”, and in medicine the same author, Henri de Mondeville, uses it for “appearance”.[3] Scholastic philosophy spoke of espèces sensibles, the images thought to pass from things into the senses.[3][2] In theology the espèces are the bread and wine of the Eucharist (Calvin 1545, singular; plural before 1656).[3][2]

As in Latin, the word meant “goods”, and en espèces “in goods” was replaced by en espèces “in coin” (1740, espèces sonnantes); the sense “coin, cash” dates from the late 15th century.[2] Une espèce de “a sort of” (1587) is used of a person or thing hard to define, and the familiar un espèce de, agreeing with the following masculine noun, is recorded from 1705 and condemned by purists.[2][3] In law espèce is a particular case (1670–81), whence cas d'espèce and en l'espèce; in natural history (mid-18th century) it became the basic unit of classification.[2]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Vraie espesse “a sign from God”, Vie de saint Alexis.[3]
  • 1269–78 – A category of living beings, Jean de Meun.[3]
  • 1314 – “Kind, sort” and “appearance”, Henri de Mondeville.[3]
  • Late 15th century – Coin, cash.[2]
  • 1545 – The bread of the Eucharist, Calvin.[3]
  • 1587 – Espèce de “sort of”.[3]
  • 1670–81 – A particular case in law, Patru.[3]
  • 1705 – Un espèce de, with masculine agreement.[2]
  • Mid-18th century – A biological species.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A kind, sort, type: des fruits de toute espèce.[7][1]
  2. Une espèce de: a sort of; before a noun as an insult, espèce d'idiot![7][2]
  3. (biology) A species: l'espèce humaine, une espèce menacée.[1][9]
  4. (in the plural) Cash, coin: payer en espèces.[1][7]
  5. (law) A particular case: cas d'espèce, en l'espèce, in this case.[2][7]
  6. (theology, in the plural) The bread and wine of the Eucharist: communier sous les deux espèces.[7][8]
  7. (literary) Sous les espèces de: in the form of.[7]

Word family

  • sous-espèce

Usage notes

Un espèce de with a masculine noun is frequent in speech but considered incorrect; the standard form is une espèce de whatever the gender of the noun.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 155b
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)