génie

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʒe.ni/^[1]

Forms

génie m (plural génies)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin genius (“guardian spirit; natural bent”),^[2][3][4][5] the spirit presiding over the conception and destiny of each person, from “genus” (see genre).^[3][2] In imperial Latin “genius” came to mean “inclinations, talent”, doubling “ingenium” “innate disposition”, and French used it to render “ingenium”.^[3][4] Littré noted that the word is modern in French: an inherited form would have resembled Provençal “genh”.^[6] The military sense “engineering” is due to ingénieur.^[2][4]

English genie (1650s) is from “génie”, used in the French “Arabian Nights” to render Arabic جِنِّيّ (jinnī).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais's Pantagruel (1532) has it in the sense “character, natural bent of mind”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

This sense lasted until the end of the 18th century (Mme de Staël's le génie de l'inaction, 1789).^[3][2] In 1637 Chapelain used it for an exceptional creative power, and, from 1686–1697 un génie was a person of genius (ce grand et infatigable Genie, of Richelieu, 1634).^[2][3][8] Corneille (1641) has it for the distinctive character of a people.^[2]

Ronsard (1571–1578) revived the Latin génie, a guardian spirit, whence bon and mauvais génie (Mme de Sévigné, 1689), the winged figures of sculpture (1704) and the magic genie of tales (Volney, 1791).^[2][3][9] Under the influence of ingénieur it named the art of fortification (Vauban, before 1708), later the army's engineers, le génie civil (1845) and, after English engineering, génie génétique.^[2][3] Génial in its modern sense dates from 1837–1838.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1532 – “Natural bent”, in Rabelais.^[2]
• 1571 – A guardian spirit, in Ronsard.^[2]
• 1637 – “Creative genius”, in Chapelain.^[2]
• 1641 – The character of a people, in Corneille.^[2]
• 1650s – English genie.^[7]
• 1697 – “A man of genius”, in Bayle.^[2]
• Before 1708 – Fortification, in Vauban.^[2]
• 1791 – A magic genie, in Volney.^[2]
• 1845 – Génie civil.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Genius, exceptional talent: un trait de génie, avoir du génie.^[10][11]
2. A genius (person): c'est un génie.^[11][2]
3. Particular character, spirit: le génie de la langue française.^[2][11]
4. A genie, spirit, bon, mauvais génie: good, evil genius.^[1][10]
5. (military) The engineers, génie civil: civil engineering, génie génétique: genetic engineering.^[11][3]

Word family

• génial
• génial
• génialement

Related words

• genre
• ingénieur
• ingénieux
• Latin genius
• English genie

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 c d 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. 4, 105b
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)