humilité

Forms

humilité f (plural humilités)^[1] Old French humilitiet and humilitet, then humilité from the 12th century.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also had umilité and humilitee.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin humilitās (“lowness, humble state”), in Christian Latin “modesty, humility”, from humilis (“low, humble”).^[2][6][3][1] Littré notes that the regular Old French form was humbleté, from humble, and that humblesse, humiliance and humiliement are also found.^[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan humilitat, Spanish humildad and Italian umiltà.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as humilitiet in the Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century), for the quality of a humble person.^[2][3] The Chanson de Roland has pais et humilitet “peace and humility”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Christian sense came first in French; from about 1120 the word could also mean “humiliation”, still alive in the 15th century in faire humilité à quelqu'un “to submit to someone”.^[6] From about 1190 it meant great deference.^[3][6] In 1606 Nicot records the sense “lowness, abasement”, of human nature or of a social condition, from the Latin sense of low height.^[2][6] From deference came pejorative uses for servility, and the phrase en toute humilité “as humbly as possible” (before 1526).^[6][3] S'abaisser à des humilités, of servile acts, is archaic.^[6]

Timeline

• 950–1000 – Humilitiet appears in the Vie de saint Léger.^[2][3]
• c. 1050 – Humilitet in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• c. 1120 – Used for “humiliation”.^[6]
• c. 1190 – Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for great deference.^[3]
• Before 1526 – Jean Marot writes en toute humilité.^[3]
• 1606 – Nicot records “abasement, lowness”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Humility, the feeling of one's own weakness that leads one to lower oneself and check all pride; in religion, a Christian virtue.^[7][2]
2. Great deference, submission: en toute humilité, as humbly as possible.^[7][4]
3. An act of humility.^[4]
4. Lowness, abasement, a low or obscure condition.^[2][6]

Related words

• humble
• humilier
• humiliation
• Latin humilis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert