fable

Forms

fable f (plural fables)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fābula (“talk, conversation, story”), which in Latin also meant a fictitious tale, a play, a narrative and an apologue, the last sense being found in Phaedrus.^[2][3] Rey calls it a semi-borrowing, and Bloch and Wartburg note that the word stayed in contact with written Latin.^[4][5] The Latin noun comes from for (“to speak”), which goes back to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bhā- (“to say, declare”).^[4][6][7]

Cognate with Italian favola, Old Occitan fabla, Catalan faula and Romanian fabulă;^[5][6] Italian also has fiaba (“fairy tale”) and fola (“fib”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1155 in Wace's Roman de Brut, meaning an imaginary story or tale.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From its first records the word could also mean a lying tale or false allegation (about 1160, in the Roman d'Eneas).^[2][4] The sense of a short moralising story told with animals is almost as old: Marie de France used it about 1180 for her fables.^[2][4] Brunetto Latini defined a fable in the 13th century as a tale of things neither true nor likely, such as a ship flying through the air.^[8]

At the start of the 17th century la Fable came to mean the mythology of pagan antiquity, a sense now dated.^[4][6] The phrase être la fable de “to be the laughing stock of” is still used.^[9] The Picard diminutive fabliau (late 12th century) answers the Old French fablel and named a genre of short moral or satirical tales in octosyllables;^[4][5] fablier was a playful name for La Fontaine before it meant a collection of fables.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses fable for an imaginary story in the Roman de Brut.^[2]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas uses it for a lying tale.^[2][4]
• c. 1180 – Marie de France calls her animal stories fables.^[2][4]
• Early 17th century – La Fable comes to mean ancient mythology.^[4]
• 1668 – fabuliste appears in La Fontaine for an author of fables.^[4]
• 1729 – fablier is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated or literary) A work of fiction meant to express a general truth.^[6][9]
2. La Fable: the body of classical mythology.^[6][8]
3. A short tale in verse or prose that illustrates a moral, often with animals: les fables d'Ésope.^[6][9]
4. (dated) An invented story, a falsehood.^[2][8]
5. Être la fable de: to be the laughingstock of: il est devenu la fable du village.^[9]
6. (literature) The plot, the set of events that make up a literary work.^[2]

Word family

• fabliau
• fablier

Related words

• fabuliste
• fabuler
• affabulation
• Latin fābula

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 345a
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)