iconographie

Forms

iconographie f (plural iconographies)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek εἰκονογραφία (eikonographía, “portrait painting”), a late Greek word adapted into French in 1680,^[2][3][4] composed of εἰκών (eikṓn, “image”) and -γραφία (-graphía).^[3][5] The Latin word iconographia meant only “the art of drawing”.^[2][5] Wiktionary takes the word from Medieval Latin, and the Grand Robert treats it as a French formation from icono- and -graphie.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first firm record is in Richelet's dictionary of 1680; it notes a date of 1547 given by the Petit Robert,^[2] which Quemada's datings mark as doubtful.^[7] The GLLF dates the first sense, the study of figured representations, to Furetière in 1701.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word names the study of the representations of a subject and, by extension, the study of the subjects, themes and allegories of figurative art.^[3] By metonymy it came to mean the whole set of such representations (1873), in particular all the images of a person or subject.^[3][5] Littré also records it for a collection of portraits of famous men.^[8]

In the 20th century it took the sense “set of illustrations in a book”, a collection of them, and the work of the picture researcher; in that everyday sense it is clipped to icono.^[3] In semiotics it has named, from about 1970, the code of visual representations used by a social group at a given time.^[3]

Timeline

• 1680 – First firm record, in Richelet.^[2][3]
• 1701 – Furetière records the sense “study of representations”.^[5]
• 1762 – The adjective iconographique.^[3][4]
• 1803 – The noun iconographe.^[3]
• 1867 – Littré records it for a collection of portraits.^[5]
• 1873 – The sense “set of representations of a subject”.^[3][5]
• c. 1970 – A term of semiotics.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The study of the figured representations of a subject, their sources and their meaning: iconographie religieuse.^[4][2]
2. The set of such representations of a person, a period or a religion.^[4][3]
3. The set of illustrations in a publication.^[4][3]
4. (dated) A collection of portraits of famous people.^[8]

Word family

• iconographique
• iconographe

Related words

• icône
• iconologie
• iconoclaste

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette