Etymologically
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formidable

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɔʁ.mi.dabl/[1]

Forms

formidable (plural formidables)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin formīdābilis (“to be feared, terrible”),[2][3][4] from the verb formīdō (“to fear, dread”), itself formed on a noun of the same spelling meaning “scarecrow”, then “dread”.[3][5][1] Littré thought it entered French only at the start of the 17th century,[6] but the TLFi records it in 1392 and the Petit Robert calls that first record isolated, with steady use from about 1537.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Mézières uses it in his Testament (1392) for what inspires fear.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Until the beginning of the 19th century “terrible, fearsome” was the only sense, so that older texts are often misread today: Racine's Moïse à Pharaon parut moins formidable speaks of fear, not admiration.[3][8] Around 1830 it came to mean “of great size or power” (une détonation formidable), and, from there, as an exaggeration, “astonishing”, and a vague term of praise, first in Balzac in 1826.[3][2][7] It was clipped to formide (1957), formi (1959) and formid (about 1960).[3] As a noun (1912) it names a large mug of beer.[3] Purists long criticized the weakened sense, which is now the ordinary one; the old one lives on only in literary use.[3]

Timeline

  • 1392 – “Fearsome”, in Philippe de Mézières.[2]
  • 1475 – In the chronicle of the canons of Neuchâtel.[8][4]
  • 1826 – “Extraordinary”, in Balzac.[2]
  • c. 1830 – “Of great size or power”.[3][7]
  • 1912 – Un formidable, a large beer mug.[3]
  • 1957–1960 – The clippings formide, formi, formid.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (dated or literary) Fearsome, dreadful: un aspect formidable.[7][2]
  2. Of very great size, strength or power; tremendous: une volonté formidable.[7][9]
  3. (familiar) Excellent, terrific: un film formidable, un type formidable.[9][10]
  4. (familiar) Astonishing in its behaviour or ideas: c'est quand même formidable qu'il ne vous ait rien dit.[9]

Noun

  1. A large mug of beer.[3]

Word family

  • formidablement

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)