jureur

Forms

jureur m (plural jureurs, feminine jureuse)^[1] Old French jureor, jureur, and the nominative jurere.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French jurer + -eur.^[4][5][6] The TLFi compares Latin iūrātor, which named an assessor of taxes and then anyone who had taken an oath; the GLLF allows either the Latin word or a French derivative, and Wiktionary calls it inherited from Old French jureor, possibly from the Latin accusative.^[4][3][1] Littré notes that Old Occitan had both juraire, from the Latin nominative, and jurador, from the accusative, a pair matched by the Old French nominative and accusative.^[2]

Cognate with Spanish jurador and Italian giuratore.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's life of Thomas Becket (1174–1176) a jureür is a man who vouches for the good faith of a party in a lawsuit.^[4][3] The king there offers two hundred laymen, knights and priests, to swear for him.^[2]

Semantic evolution

About 1223 Gautier de Coinci uses it both for anyone who takes an oath and for a man who swears by God and the saints, a blasphemer.^[4][7] The second sense is common in the 16th century, as in Marot's list of a valet's vices, pipeur, larron, jureur, blasphemateur;^[2] it has nearly gone out of use.^[7]

During the Revolution the word was applied, from 1795, to priests who had sworn the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1791–1802), and it is now used almost only of them, often in apposition: prêtre jureur, curé jureur, opposed to prêtre réfractaire.^[4][7][5]

Timeline

• 1174–1176 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses jureür for a witness to a party's good faith.^[4]
• c. 1223 – Gautier de Coinci uses it for one who takes an oath and for a blasphemer.^[4]
• c. 1460 – The spelling jureur appears in Georges Chastellain.^[3]
• 1531 – Marot uses it for a man given to oaths and curses.^[4]
• 1795 – It is first applied to priests sworn to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (old law) A person who has taken an oath.^[4][5]
2. (history) A priest who swore the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the Revolution; often in apposition, prêtre jureur.^[4][5]
3. (dated) A person who swears or blasphemes habitually.^[5][2]

Related words

• jurer
• juré
• jurement
• juron

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert