maudit

Forms

maudit (feminine maudite, masculine plural maudits, feminine plural maudites)^[1] Old French maldit, later maudit (about 1175, Chrétien de Troyes).^[2][3]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from French maudire.^[4][5][6] The verb, first maldire (1080) and then maudire (about 1170), was taken from Christian Latin maledīcō (“to curse with words of damnation”), a compound of male (“badly”) and dīcō (“to say”).^[5][7] This form pushed aside the popular Old French verbs maleïr (about 1150) and malir;^[5] Wiktionary calls the verb a semi-learned borrowing and takes the first of these to be the inherited form.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) a tere maldite is a land rejected by God, one that seems struck by divine damnation.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has followed the history of the verb, from the religious sense to a secular one.^[5] From the 12th century it was used in curses (maudiz soies tu, Chrétien de Troyes, 1170).^[4][2] In 1636 Corneille used it of what belongs to a cursed person, and by 1671 Madame de Sévigné applied it to anything hateful or detestable, the sense still alive when the word stands before the noun.^[4] At the end of the 16th century the noun maudit named one rejected by God, especially Satan.^[4][5] The sense “rejected by society” is the one of Verlaine's essay Les Poètes maudits.^[6][2]

The word is very much alive in Quebec French, where religious words became familiar oaths: maudit there means “bad, unbearable” and, as an intensive, “cunning, clever”; it is also an interjection and an insult, and en maudit means “angry” or “awfully”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Tere maldite appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1175 – The spelling maudit is found in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1636 – Corneille uses it of what belongs to a cursed person.^[4]
• 1671 – Madame de Sévigné uses it for “detestable”.^[4]
• late 16th century – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses the noun of one damned by God, Satan.^[4][5]
• 1694 – The Académie records the noun maudit.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Damned or rejected by God.^[6][9]
2. Rejected or condemned by society: un poète maudit.^[6][10]
3. Used in curses: maudit soit le jour où je suis parti.^[6][9]
4. (before the noun) Wretched, blasted, something one complains of: cette maudite voiture ne veut pas démarrer.^[6][4]
5. (Quebec, familiar) Used as an intensive: “terribly”, also “cunning”.^[5][1]

Noun

1. A person who is damned or rejected, especially Satan: les maudits.^[10][4][9]

Related words

• maudire
• malédiction
• Latin maledīcō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 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 f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 83a
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)