mime

Forms

mime m (plural mimes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mimus (“low actor, stage farce”),^[2][3][4][5] which is from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos, “mime, actor who sings, dances and recites”).^[3][1] The Grand Robert and the GLLF derive the Greek word from μιμέομαι (miméomai, “to imitate”).^[6][7] Rey notes that the Greek word belongs to no Indo-European series, and that Schulze's comparison with Sanskrit माया (māyā, “illusion”) seems mistaken.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1520, in Michel de Tours's translation of Suetonius, for a short, familiar and farcical comedy of Antiquity.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

For a long time mime remained a term of ancient history: the farce itself, then the actor who played in it, a buffoon (1542 according to Rey, 1560 in the TLFi), and an ancient author of such comedies (1752).^[3][2] By extension it was applied in 1783 to a person with a talent for mimicking other people's manners.^[2][3][8] From 1834 it became a term of the modern theatre for an actor who performs without words,^[3][9] and it also names the art of expression by gesture and attitude.^[9][10] The verb mimer was formed in 1840.^[8]

Timeline

• 1520 – First record, for an ancient farce, in a translation of Suetonius.^[2]
• 1542 – Used of an actor in such farces.^[3]
• 1560 – Poldo d'Albenas uses it for a buffoon actor.^[2][7]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records it for an author of ancient farces.^[2]
• 1783 – Mercier uses it for someone with a talent for imitation.^[2]
• 1834 – It names a modern actor who performs without speech.^[3][9]
• 1840 – The verb mimer is formed.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Antiquity) A short burlesque and satirical comedy combining text, song and bodily expression.^[9][2]
2. The art of pantomime, performance through gesture and bodily expression: un cours de mime.^[9][10]
3. (Antiquity) An actor in such comedies, a buffoon.^[9][4]
4. A mime artist, a performer who expresses himself or herself by attitude and gesture without words; the word is masculine or feminine.^[9][10][1]
5. By extension, a person who is good at imitating the manners and speech of others: c'est un bon mime.^[9][4]

Word family

• mimer

Related words

• mimique
• pantomime
• Latin mimus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 94b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org