méditatif

Forms

méditatif (feminine méditative, masculine plural méditatifs, feminine plural méditatives)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin meditātīvus (“relating to meditation”) (12th century), derived from meditātum, the supine of meditor (“to meditate”).^[2][3][4] In Late Latin the word was already a grammatical term for a desiderative verb, the source of the Middle French grammatical use.^[2][3] The GLLF instead sees a learned derivative of méditer modelled on the Late Latin word.^[5]

Cognate with Occitan meditatiu, Spanish meditativo and Italian meditativo.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1320 in the Ovide moralisé, meaning “relating to meditation”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare before the end of the 17th century,^[2][7] apart from Middle French méditatif de (about 1400) and a grammatical use for a verb form (14th century).^[3][2] Taken up again in the 17th century (Pomey, 1671), it described a person or a mind given to meditation, as in Furetière.^[2][3][5] Its associations were first religious; with pre-Romanticism, like those of méditation, they changed and brought it close to rêveur and pensif.^[3] Voltaire used it as a noun in 1751.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1320 – First record, in the Ovide moralisé.^[2]
• 14th century – A grammatical forme méditative is recorded.^[2]
• c. 1400 – Méditatif de is used in Middle French.^[3]
• 1671 – Pomey records the word again.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “showing meditation”.^[5]
• 1751 – Voltaire uses it as a noun.^[5]
• 1823 – The adverb méditativement appears.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Inclined to méditation, thoughtful, pensive: un enfant méditatif.^[8][2][5]
2. Showing meditation: un regard méditatif.^[5][8]

Noun

1. A meditative person, a thinker or dreamer.^[8][6][5]

Related words

• méditer
• méditation
• méditativement
• Latin meditor

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 618a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert