invisibilité

Forms

invisibilité f (plural invisibilités)^[1] Middle French invisibleté, beside invisibilité, in the late 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin invisibilitās (“invisibility”), a Christian Latin word used especially of the invisible nature of God,^[3] formed on invisibilis (“invisible”).^[4][5][6] Rey describes the borrowing as shaped by invisible and visibilité.^[7] Wiktionary also allows a formation within French, -ité added to the adjective.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan invisibilitat, Spanish invisibilidad and Italian invisibilità.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DMF records it in Guillaume Fillastre's Traité du conseil (about 1472–1473), as invisibleté “the state of being invisible”, in a passage about a magic ring.^[2] The TLFi's first record is later, in Pierre Charron's Les Trois Vérités (1594);^[3] the Robert dictionaries date it to 1560.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

At the end of the 15th century Simon de Phares lists an art d'invisibilité, the supposed art of making oneself invisible, among the superstitious and divinatory arts.^[2] Godefroy quotes it in a discussion of the invisibility of the Church.^[9] From the original sense of something invisible by its nature (God, the air), it widened by the mid-17th century to the state of something that simply cannot be seen at the moment: the GLLF dates this sense to before 1654, in Guez de Balzac.^[5][3]

Timeline

• c. 1472 – Guillaume Fillastre writes invisibleté “invisibility”.^[2]
• c. 1494 – Simon de Phares names an art d'invisibilité among the superstitious arts.^[2]
• 1560 – Date of first record given by the Robert dictionaries.^[4][8]
• 1594 – Pierre Charron uses it in Les Trois Vérités, the TLFi's first record.^[3][5]
• before 1654 – Guez de Balzac uses it of what is not visible at a given moment.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being invisible, by nature or for the moment: l'invisibilité de Dieu.^[8][3][10]

Related words

• invisible
• visibilité
• Latin invisibilis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ 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
9. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)