majesté

Forms

majesté f (plural majestés)^[1] Old French majested (about 1118), majestet (about 1120) and majeté (1180); majesté from 1365.^[2] The popular Old French doublet was maesté, maïsté (12th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin māiestās (“greatness, dignity”),^{[4][2][5][6][1]} derived from māior (“greater”), the comparative of magnus (“great”).^[4][2] The Latin word also meant the nobility of a style, place or person and the sovereignty of the Roman state and people, and in Medieval Latin “sovereignty” in general (996); from the 6th century it was an honorific title of emperors, kings and popes, and about 1031 it began to name the image of Christ enthroned.^[4][2]

It was introduced in its religious sense and in Middle French it ousted the inherited doublet maesté.^[2] Its application to the king came through a fresh borrowing from Latin, motivated by the sacred character of kingship.^[2] Littré compares Old Occitan majestat, Spanish magestad and Italian magestà.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1120 in the Voyage de saint Brendan, as majested, for the greatness that commands respect, and in reis de majestet, meaning Jesus Christ.^[4][2] The Oxford Psalter has it in the same period.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

At first the word referred to the supreme greatness of God, as in Dieu de majesté and roi de majesté (about 1120), and it named a representation of a saint (about 1140, Pèlerinage de Charlemagne), a sense kept in iconography (en majesté).^[2][4] From about 1360 it was applied to the supreme greatness of the king of France, Froissart being among the first to use it so;^[2][6][8] it named the king himself about 1380 and gave him a form of address, leurs majestés in 1575, vos majestés in 1835.^[2] Crime de majesté (1548) was replaced by crime de lèse-majesté.^[2]

In the 16th century it passed into general use for the grandeur of a person or bearing that compels respect (1547), for grandeur of style (after 1550) and for the stately look of buildings or rivers (1690).^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1118 – First recorded form majested.^[2]
• c. 1120 – Majested and reis de majestet in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[4]
• c. 1140 – Used for a representation of a saint in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.^[4][2]
• c. 1180 – Sa majeté is used as a sovereign's title.^[4]
• c. 1360 – Applied to the greatness of the king of France.^[2][8]
• 1365 – Oresme writes royalle majesté.^[4]
• 1547 – Used of grandeur that compels admiration, in Jean Martin's Vitruvius.^[4][2]
• 1548 – Crime de majesté is recorded.^[2]
• 1575 – Leurs majestés is recorded.^[2]
• 1605 – The derivative majestueux appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Grandeur that commands respect and reverence, especially of God or a sovereign: la majesté divine.^[9][4][1]
2. (iconography) Christ en majesté, Vierge en majesté: shown from the front, seated on a throne.^[9]
3. Sovereign dignity; royal power.^[9][7]
4. A title given to hereditary sovereigns: Votre Majesté, Sa Majesté.^[9][7][1]
5. A noble, stately quality of a person, a bearing, a style or a thing.^[4][7][1]

Word family

• lèse-majesté
• majestueux

Related words

• majeur
• Latin māiestās

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 i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 53b
6. ^ a b 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert