eucharistie

Forms

eucharistie f (plural eucharisties)^[1] Old French eucariste, eukariste.^[2][3] Middle French also had eucharisté (about 1350) beside eucharistie.^[4] Often written with a capital: Eucharistie.^[5][6][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin eucharistia (“thanksgiving, the bread and wine consecrated by the prayer of thanksgiving”), a word of Christian Latin.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek εὐχαριστία (eukharistía, “gratitude, thanksgiving”), which in Christian Greek meant the sacrifice of the Eucharist.^[5][6][7] The Greek noun comes from εὐχάριστος (eukháristos, “grateful, agreeable”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) and χαρίζομαι (kharízomai, “to show favour”), from χάρις (kháris, “grace, favour, gratitude”).^[6][9][10] Rey connects the Greek noun, like Latin hortor (“to exhort”), with an Indo-European root *gher- (“to desire”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is eukariste at the end of the 13th century, in the Anglo-Norman Codex Digby 86, in a list of the seven sacraments.^[5][2] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to about 1165, and the Robert dictionaries and the GLLF to 1150.^{[7][6][9][11]}

Semantic evolution

As a theological term the word names the central sacrament of Christianity, which commemorates Christ's sacrifice.^[6][12] In Catholic and Orthodox teaching it also denotes the consecrated bread and wine, held to contain the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ;^[6] Lutheran theology sees a real presence in which the substance of the bread and wine remains, and Calvinist theology a real but spiritual presence.^[6] Jean Golein explains about 1370 that nostre sacrement est nommé eucharistie.^[4] The adjective eucharistique (1577), borrowed from Latin eucharisticus, was soon felt as a derivative of eucharistie.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the first record.^[7][6]
• Late 13th century – Eukariste appears in the Codex Digby 86.^[5][2]
• c. 1350 – The Vie de saint Évroul has eucharisté.^[4]
• c. 1370 – Jean Golein uses the form eucharistie.^[4]
• 1577 – The adjective eucharistique is recorded.^[7][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Christianity) The Eucharist, the sacrement that commemorates and renews the sacrifice of Christ; communion.^[12][5][1]
2. (Catholicism) The consecrated bread and wine, held to contain the body and blood of Christ; the host.^[12][6]

Related words

• eucharistique
• Ancient Greek εὐχαριστία (eukharistía)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
3. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
4. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 249a
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert