incendie

Forms

incendie m (plural incendies)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin incendium (“conflagration, fire, ardour of the feelings”), first recorded in 1605.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun comes from incendō (“to set alight”), formed from in- and a verbal element meaning “to make burn”, related to candeō (“to glow”).^[4][5]

In the south the word is older: Old Occitan had encendi (“great fire”) by the middle of the 11th century, in the Song of Saint Faith, with the Latin stress kept, and Gascon documents of 1570–1575 have encendy, incendy and incendie.^[2][4][5] The Grand Robert dates the French word from 1575 on that Gascon record,^[5] and Wiktionary suggests the French borrowing may have been helped by the Occitan word.^[1] Cognate with Catalan incendi, Spanish incendio and Italian incendio.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pierre Le Loyer's Histoire des spectres (1605) uses it for a great fire that spreads and causes damage, the sense it still has.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Until the early 17th century French said embrasement or brûlement for a large fire;^[7] Vaugelas criticised incendie as vulgar beside embrasement, but the word stayed in common use.^[4]

Figurative uses followed quickly: Fléchier used it in 1671 for the troubles stirred up by factions, an upheaval that shakes the established order,^[2][4] and Voltaire in 1767 for the devastation an army causes by fire.^[4] From the likeness to the glow of flames, Rousseau used it in 1762 for a reddish light spreading over a wide area.^[2][4] In the 19th century it was also said of the burning sensation of a spicy dish and of an outburst of violent feelings.^[4]

Timeline

• Mid-11th century – Old Occitan encendi “great fire” appears in the Chanson de sainte Foy.^[2][4]
• 1575 – Incendie is found in a Gascon document of the Gironde archives.^[2][5]
• 1596 – The derived verb incendier is recorded.^[4][7]
• 1605 – Le Loyer uses incendie for a great, spreading fire.^[2]
• 1671 – Fléchier uses it for political troubles and upheavals.^[2][4]
• 1762 – Rousseau uses it for a red glow lighting a wide area.^[2][4]
• 1767 – Voltaire applies it to an army's devastation by fire.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large fire that spreads and causes damage; a blaze, conflagration: un incendie de forêt.^[8][2][9]
2. (literary) A red glow lighting a wide area, as at sunset.^[8][2]
3. (figurative) Violent upheaval or unrest threatening the established order.^[2][6]
4. (figurative) An outburst of violent feeling, or a burning sensation, as from spicy food.^[4]

Word family

• incendier

Related words

• incendiaire
• incandescent
• Latin incendium

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 l m 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 620a
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)