Etymologically
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grâce

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʁas/[1]
  • IPA: /ɡʁɑs/[1]

Forms

grâce f (plural grâces)[1] The Latin form gratia is found in the Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century); grace from about 1050.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin grātia (“favour, kindness; gratitude; charm”), from grātus (“welcome, pleasing; grateful”).[2][4][5][6][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that its main senses, the theological one included, were already Latin, and that the sense “charm” was taken from Latin later than the others.[5] Wiktionary calls it an early borrowing and notes that the long vowel marked by the circumflex is irregular; the TLFi explains the pronunciation /ɡʁɑs/ by the influence of words in “-asse” (“grasse”, “lasse”).[1][2]

The same Latin family gave gré and gratuit.[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 10th-century Vie de saint Léger it means “goodwill, favour”; about 1050 the Vie de saint Alexis has par la Deu grace, the grace of God.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the theological sense came état de grâce (1456), an de grâce (about 1360) and à la grâce de Dieu (1872).[4][3] In secular use it meant favour, and especially pardon, the remission of a penalty (1174–76): crier grâce, the exclamation grâce! (Corneille, 1642), coup de grâce “the blow that ends suffering” (1690).[2][4] Rendre grâces “to give thanks” is found in 1135; from thanks to God came grâce à Dieu (1549) and the preposition grâce à “thanks to” (1564).[2][4]

From the middle of the 12th century it also meant the charm of a thing, and by the end of the century of a person, bonne grâce and mauvaise grâce describe pleasing or displeasing manners, and the three Grâces (1550) are the goddesses of charm.[2][4]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 10th century – Gratia “favour”, Vie de saint Léger.[2]
  • c. 1050 – Par la Deu grace, Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1135 – Rendre graces, Wace.[2]
  • Mid-12th century – “Charm”, Jeu d'Adam.[2]
  • 1174–76 – “Pardon”, Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.[2]
  • 1456 – État de grâce.[4]
  • 1564 – Grâce à “thanks to”.[2]
  • 1690 – Coup de grâce.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A favour: demander une grâce, les bonnes grâces de quelqu'un.[8][9]
  2. (law) A pardon, remission of a sentence: droit de grâce.[9][1]
  3. (theology) Divine grace: la grâce de Dieu, être en état de grâce.[3][2]
  4. Grace, charm: danser avec grâce.[9][1]
  5. De bonne grâce, de mauvaise grâce: willingly, grudgingly.[4][8]
  6. Grâce à: thanks to.[1][4]
  7. (in the plural) Thanks: action de grâces, grâce à Dieu.[4][1]
  8. De grâce!: please, for pity's sake![4][1]

Word family

  • gracier
  • graciable
  • disgrâce

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 244b
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)