Etymologically
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modeste

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɔ.dɛst/[1]

Forms

modeste (plural modestes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin modestus (“moderate; calm; decent; reserved”),[2][3][4][1][5] from modus (“measure”), the source of mode “manner”.[3][6][7] The adverb “modestement” and “modestie” are recorded a little earlier, in Bersuire (1352–1356).[3][4]

Littré took “modestus” to be a participle of the verb behind modérer.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oresme's translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–1372) has it in the Latin sense “moderate, far from all excess”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “moderate” lived until the end of the 17th century, and the Académie has kept it since.[3][9] In biblical style les modestes were the poor and lowly (1560).[2][3]

Under the influence of modestie, the 17th century gave the senses “chaste, decent” (1607), “humble, free of vanity” (1611, Cotgrave), “small, slight” (about 1649, La Rochefoucauld) and, disparagingly, “ordinary, without lustre” (1686, Bossuet).[2][3] The précieuses called the first of three petticoats la modeste (the others being la secrète and la friponne), and in 1706 un modeste was a small kerchief covering a low neckline; these nouns died out early in the 19th century.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1352–1356 – Modestement (Bersuire).[3][4]
  • 1370–1372 – “Moderate” (Oresme).[2][3]
  • 1560 – Les modestes, the poor and lowly.[2][3]
  • 1607 – “Chaste, decent”.[2][7]
  • 1611 – “Humble” (Cotgrave).[2][3]
  • c. 1649 – “Small, slight” (La Rochefoucauld).[2]
  • 1686 – “Ordinary, without lustre” (Bossuet).[2][3]
  • 1706 – Un modeste, a kerchief.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Simple, without luxury or show; humble: un train de vie modeste, d'origine modeste.[9][10]
  2. Small, of little importance; modest: revenus modestes.[9][10]
  3. Free of vanity, unassuming.[10][1]
  4. Undemanding: modeste dans ses prétentions.[10][7]
  5. (literary) Reserved, decent.[10][8]

Noun

  1. A modest person: faire le modeste.[10][7]

Word family

  • modestement

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 7a
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)