idyllique

Forms

idyllique (plural idylliques)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French idylle + -ique.^[2][1][3] The noun was taken from Italian idillio (“short pastoral poem”) in the 16th century, which comes from Renaissance Latin idyllium, from Ancient Greek εἰδύλλιον (eidúllion, “short poem”), a diminutive of εἶδος (eîdos, “form, image”).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bescherelle records it in 1845 for what belongs to the idyll as a literary genre.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Rey notes that the adjective followed the sense development of idylle and, like it, is often ironic.^[4] From the genre it passed to what resembles an idyll: the Goncourt brothers applied it to a work of literature in 1856, and Renan used it in 1863 of a nature both ideal and naive.^[2] From there comes the usual modern sense of a setting or situation that is charming, peaceful and almost too perfect.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1845 – Bescherelle records it of the idyll as a genre.^[2][5]
• 1856 – The Goncourts use it of a work that resembles an idyll.^[2]
• 1863 – Renan uses it in the sense “ideal, naive”.^[2]
• 1873 – Larousse records the sense “recalling an idyll by its setting or feeling”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literature) Of or relating to the idyll as a genre: un poème idyllique.^[6][7]
2. idyllic: recalling an idyll by its country setting or tender feeling, ideal: une vie idyllique au bord du lac.^[6][2]

Related words

• idylle
• bucolique
• églogue

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse