missionnaire

Forms

missionnaire (plural missionnaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French mission + -aire.^[2][3][1] The base mission was borrowed in the 16th century from Latin missiō (“a sending”), from mittō (“to send”).^[4]

Bloch and Wartburg date the noun to 1662, in Racine;^[4] the TLFi and the Grand Robert have an earlier record from 1631.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in 1631 in the letters of Saint Vincent de Paul, is a noun for a priest who preaches to instruct people who are already Christians.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

By 1670 the word named a priest sent on a mission to distant countries, the sense that has become the usual one.^[2][5] A figurative use, as noun and adjective, appears in the letters of Madame de Sévigné in 1685.^[2][5] In the 18th century it was extended to anyone who spreads a doctrine, a use first found in a letter of Voltaire to Catherine II in 1773.^[2][5]

As an adjective it has meant “belonging to a religious mission” since about 1860, in Baudelaire, and “relating to religious missions” since 1874.^[6][2] In the French of Africa and Madagascar it is also used in the 20th and 21st centuries for a foreign teacher sent on a teaching mission.^[5] The Petit Robert records position du missionnaire for the sexual position in which the man lies on the woman.^[7]

Timeline

• 1631 – Saint Vincent de Paul uses it of a priest preaching to instruct Christians.^[2][5]
• 1662 – Bloch and Wartburg's first record, in Racine.^[4]
• 1670 – Colbert uses it of a priest sent on a mission to distant lands.^[2]
• 1685 – Madame de Sévigné uses it figuratively, as noun and adjective.^[2][5]
• 1773 – Voltaire uses it of a person who spreads a doctrine.^[2][6]
• 1874 – The adjective “relating to religious missions” appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A missionary: a priest, member of a religious order or lay person sent to spread the faith, as in une missionnaire est partie au Laos.^[7][8][2]
2. Missionnaire diocésain: a secular priest who organizes and preaches the parish missions in a diocese.^[8][6]
3. (figurative) A person who spreads a doctrine or an idea.^[6][9][2]
4. Position du missionnaire: the sexual position with the man lying on the woman.^[7][10]

Adjective

1. Belonging to a religious mission, as in un prêtre missionnaire.^[6][2]
2. Relating to missions and the spreading of the faith; by extension, eager to convert others to a faith or an ideal.^[8][7]

Related words

• mission
• missionner
• Latin missiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)