fierté

Forms

fierté f (plural fiertés)^[1] Old French fiertet;^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also had feerté and fereté.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French fier² + -té, after Latin feritās (“wildness, savagery, cruelty”).^{[2][4][5][1][6]} The Latin noun is from ferus (“wild”), the source of the adjective.^[7] Littré took the French word directly from the Latin accusative, and noted an Old French synonym fieror.^[8]

Compare Old Occitan feritat.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as fiertet in the Chanson de Roland at the end of the 11th century, meaning boldness, courage and daring: the knights ride out par si grant fiertet.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the senses of the adjective fier.^[9] Beside the warrior's daring, it named from about 1165 the attitude of someone who thinks himself above others, haughtiness and arrogance.^[2][5] A sense taken from the Latin, the wildness of an untamed beast and, by extension, the cruelty of some men, is recorded from about 1355 (Bersuire) and was still current in the classical period.^[7][2]

In the early 17th century fierté became a celebrated virtue, linked to a moral ideal influenced by Spain;^[9] Corneille uses it in 1651 for a lofty sense of one's dignity and honour, the sense that prevails today.^[2][7] Classical French also used it of a woman's refusal to yield to love (Littré's fourth sense) and, in painting, of boldness of touch or colour.^[8][7]

Timeline

• 1080–1100 – Fiertet “daring” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][4]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses fierté for haughtiness.^[2]
• c. 1355 – Bersuire uses it for ferocity.^[7]
• 1651 – Corneille uses it for a lofty sense of dignity.^[2][7]
• 1694 – The Académie illustrates the “wildness” of tamed lions losing their natural fierté.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. pride, a lofty sense of one's own dignity and honour: on a sa fierté.^[5][1]
2. Satisfaction and pride taken in something or someone: sa fille est sa fierté.^[5]
3. (dated) haughtiness, arrogance.^[5][2]
4. (obsolete) Ferocity, also courage and daring.^[5][2]

Related words

• fier²
• Latin feritās

Usage notes

Littré has a separate old word fierte (without the accent), from Latin feretrum (“bier”), meaning a reliquary shrine, kept in a few churches, as at Rouen for the shrine of Saint Romain.^[8][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 480b
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 462a