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intolérance

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Etymology and origin of the French word intolérance

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1596 Hulsius More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin tolerantia

Pronunciation

  • /ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

intolérance f (plural intolérances)[1] Early spelling intollerance (1596).[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French in- + tolérance,[2][3][4] on the model of Latin intolerantia (“unbearableness”).[2] Wiktionary allows a direct borrowing from the Latin word;[1] Littré derived it from Latin and compared Italian intoleranza.[5] The base noun is borrowed from tolerantia.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hulsius' dictionary has intollerance in 1596, “inability to bear (something)”.[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Rey date it to 1611 (Cotgrave).[6][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word was hardly used in the 17th century: Richelet notes in 1680 that it is not said.[2][3] It lost its first sense, a lack of endurance, and became a term of religion (Bossuet);[7] Furetière defines it in 1701 as the refusal to bear or deal with people of the opposite opinion, especially in religion.[2] In Voltaire's Traité sur la tolérance (1763) it is the aggressive, persecuting hatred of those who believe they hold the religious truth,[2] and after Diderot (1766) it became the everyday opposite of tolérance.[7]

Medicine took it up in 1852 for the body's failure to bear a substance,[7] recorded by Nysten in 1855.[4] Littré gives the example of intolerance of tartar emetic.[5] The noun intolérantisme dates from 1752, from the religious debates of the time.[7]

Timeline

  • 1596 – Intollerance “inability to bear” in Hulsius.[2]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records intolérance.[4][6]
  • 1680 – Richelet notes that the word is not used.[2]
  • 1701 – Furetière: refusal to bear those of another opinion, especially in religion.[2]
  • 1752 – First record of intolérantisme.[7]
  • 1763 – Voltaire's Traité sur la tolérance uses it for religious persecution.[2]
  • 1852 – First medical use.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Lack of tolérance, especially in religion or politics; refusal to allow others freedom of opinion; intolerance, fanaticism.[8][2]
  2. A tendency to condemn whatever displeases one in other people's opinions or conduct; narrow-mindedness.[8][4]
  3. (medicine) An abnormally strong reaction of the body to a drug or other substance: une intolérance au lactose.[8][5]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Intolérance.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/intol%C3%A9rance. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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