hadj

Forms

hadj m (plural hadjs)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic حَجّ (ḥajj, “pilgrimage, pilgrimage to Mecca”).^[2][3][4] The Dictionnaire historique calls it a transcription of the Arabic word.^[5]

The title for one who has made the pilgrimage, now also hadji, has an older history in French: it is recorded as hagis in Nicolas de Nicolay's account of his travels (1567 or 1568).^[2][6][7] The TLFi takes that form from a Turkish or Persian word for “pilgrim”, itself from Arabic,^[2] and the GLLF from Turkish, from Arabic “pilgrim”;^[6] the Grand Robert gives a colloquial Arabic form meaning “one who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word for the pilgrimage is first found, as Haj, in 1743, in Joncquières's French translation of Cantemir's history of the Ottoman Empire; the spelling hadj appears in Volney's Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte (1787).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word names both the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the duties of a Muslim, and the person who has made it.^[5][7] For the person, hagis (1567 or 1568), hadge (1731) and Hadji (1787) are recorded before hadj (about 1893, in the Grande Encyclopédie).^[2][6] The GLLF dates hadji as a dictionary word to Boiste (1839) and hadj to the Larousse of 1902;^[6] the FEW also gives 1902.^[8] The feminine is hadja.^[5]

Timeline

• 1567 – Hagis, for the pilgrim, in Nicolas de Nicolay's Navigations.^[2][7]
• 1731 – Hadge “pilgrim” in a translation of Braithwaite's history of Morocco.^[2]
• 1743 – Haj “pilgrimage” in the translation of Cantemir.^[2]
• 1787 – Volney writes hadj for the pilgrimage and Hadji for the pilgrim.^[2]
• 1839 – Boiste records hadji.^[6]
• 1902 – The Larousse records hadj.^[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Islam) The pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina that every Muslim should make at least once, the hajj.^[2][1][3]
2. (Islam) The title of a Muslim who has made this pilgrimage; also hadji.^[2][7][6][5]

Related words

• hadji

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 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 Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 61a
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF