maestro

Forms

maestro m (plural maestros)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian maestro (“master”),^[2][3][4][1] which had meant “composer of music” since the 16th century,^[2][3] and which comes from Latin magister.^[5][1] It is a doublet of maître, inherited from the same Latin word, and of the learned magister.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi and the DHLF date the word to 1817, in Stendhal's Rome, Naples et Florence;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF give 1824.^[7][8][5] It named a composer of important musical works.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Like its companion maestria, the word came in as a term of art: maestro meant a great composer or a great performer of music.^[7][3] It was used of famous composers and conductors and in addressing them, where maître is also said.^[3][2] The TLFi now labels it dated; the GLLF records from 1935 (Académie) a familiar, often joking use for any conductor or leader.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 16th century – Italian maestro takes the sense “composer of music”.^[2][3]
• 1817 – Stendhal uses maestro in Rome, Naples et Florence.^[2][3]
• 1824 – Date of first record in Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF.^[7][5]
• 1842–1843 – Maestria is borrowed, in George Sand.^[3]
• 1935 – The Académie records the familiar use for any conductor.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A famous composer or conductor, also as a form of address.^[4][2][3]
2. (familiar, humorous) Any conductor or leader of a show: bravo, maestro !^[4][5]

Related words

• maître
• magister
• maestria

References

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