monogramme

Forms

monogramme m (plural monogrammes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin monogramma (“monogram”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone, single”) and γράμμα (grámma, “letter”).^[2][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Late Latin word was made on a Greek model that is not attested.^[4] Classical Latin had the adjective monogrammus (“drawn in outline only, sketched; emaciated”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the word from 1557.^[4][5][8] The TLFi's first record is in Pontus de Tyard's Premier Curieux (1578), for the mark some artists put at the foot of their works.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1610 Fauchet used it of the cipher on royal coins, made of the abbreviated letters of the king's name, the general sense “cipher made of combined initials”.^[2][3] The GLLF dates the monogram of Christ to Furetière (1690) and the use for a person's initials to Martin du Gard (1936).^[7] In the 19th century it gave monogrammatique and monogrammiste, an artist known by a monogram signature.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1557 – First record, according to Bloch and Wartburg and the Robert dictionaries.^[4][5]
• 1578 – Pontus de Tyard uses it of an artist's sign.^[2][3]
• 1610 – Fauchet uses it of the cipher of the king's name on coins.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense “cipher of a name's letters”.^[7]
• 1690 – Furetière records the monogram of Christ.^[7]
• 1766 – monogrammiste appears.^[2]
• 1808 – Boiste records monogrammatique.^[2]
• 1868 – Littré records monogramme parfait.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cipher made of the initial letters, or the main letters, of a name, interlaced into one sign; a monogram.^[8][2][7]
2. Monogramme du Christ: the chrisme.^[2][8]
3. An abbreviated mark or signature, especially one put by an artist at the foot of a work.^[8][2]
4. Monogramme parfait: one containing all the letters of a name, monogramme imparfait: one with only the main letters.^[9][7]

Word family

• monogrammatique
• monogrammiste

Related words

• chiffre
• Late Latin monogramma

Usage notes

Littré distinguishes the monogram, in which one stroke or bowl serves for two or three letters, from the chiffre, in which every part of each letter can be followed separately.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 80a
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette