hommage

Forms

hommage m (plural hommages)^[1] Old French homage, humage, homenage;^[2][3] hommage is found from the end of the 12th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also had omage, umage and hommaige.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French homme + -age, first as Old French homage, from the sense “vassal” that homme had in the Middle Ages, as Latin homō had.^[5][6][1][7] Littré connects it with the Late Latin hominaticum of a text from 1035 and points to the old form homenage.^[2]

Compare Occitan homenatge, Spanish homenage, Portuguese homenagem and Italian omaggio.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as homage in the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160), for the duty that a vassal owed his lord: the act by which he declared himself his lord's man.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From the feudal act came the sense “fief for which homage is paid” (1463) and the phrase foi et hommage, in tenir en foi et en hommage (1549) “to hold land as a vassal”; these uses survive in medieval history.^[6] At the same time the word meant a mark of courtesy toward a woman (about 1165) and of veneration toward God (12th century), the general sense kept in rendre hommage.^[6][5]

From Corneille (1644) it names any token of respect, gratitude or admiration, and in the précieux vocabulary of the 17th century rendre hommage to a woman's beauty was to celebrate it;^[6] en hommage “as a token of homage” dates from the end of the 16th century.^[6] It also came to mean a respectful gift (1651, faire hommage de).^[6] In the plural it named a man's attentions to a woman (1670), later (18th century) sexual relations; since the end of the 17th century it has been a weakened word in polite formulas (1694, présenter ses hommages).^[6] Old French also used it for “human nature” and for “wages” (13th century).^[6]

Bloch and Wartburg date the figurative sense to the 17th century.^[8] English homage (about 1300) was taken from the Old French word.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – Homage appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[5][6]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it of a mark of courtesy toward a woman.^[5][6]
• c. 1300 – English homage is recorded.^[9]
• 1463 – It names a fief held by homage.^[6]
• Mid-15th century – Rendre hommage is recorded in Jean Régnier.^[5]
• 1549 – Tenir en foi et en hommage is recorded.^[6]
• 1644 – Corneille uses the plural hommages for tokens of respect.^[5][6]
• 1651 – Faire hommage de “to make a gift of” appears.^[6]
• 1694 – Présenter ses hommages is used as a polite formula.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (feudalism) The act by which a vassal declared himself the man of his lord and promised him absolute fealty: foi et hommage, hommage lige.^[10][5]
2. An act of courtesy or devotion of a man toward a woman; in the plural, a polite formula of respect: présenter ses hommages.^[10][6]
3. A mark of veneration or of respect, admiration or gratitude, especially in rendre hommage à “to pay tribute to”: rendre hommage au courage des sauveteurs, en hommage à.^[10][5]
4. A respectful gift or offering, such as a book sent by its author.^[10][3]

Related words

• homme
• hommasse
• lige
• Latin homō
• English homage

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 456b
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert