mystérieux

Forms

mystérieux (feminine mystérieuse, masculine plural mystérieux, feminine plural mystérieuses)^[1] Middle French mysterieux.^[1] Old French also had an adjective misterial, as in la misterial sepmaine “Holy Week” in Jean de Meun.^[2]

Etymology

It is from French mystère + -eux.^[3][4][5][1] Mystère was borrowed in the late 12th century from Latin mystērium (“rites open only to the initiated; secret”), itself from Ancient Greek μυστήριον (mustḗrion, “secret rite, mystery”), which belongs with μύω (múō, “to close (the eyes or lips)”).^[6][4] The adjective is recorded indirectly a little earlier through its adverb mystérieusement (1461).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Georges Chastellain's Dit de Vérité, written before 1475, with the sense “having a secret, enigmatic side”;^[3][6] the Grand Robert dates it to 1468, the GLLF to about 1460 and the Petit Robert to 1440.^[5][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Unlike mystère, whose first senses were religious, the adjective had everyday lay senses from the start.^[6] Rabelais (1552) wrote of motz mysterieux, “words hard to understand”.^[3][2] Cotgrave (1611) has the sense “containing something hidden or unknown”, and Pascal (before 1662) used it of a person who makes a mystery of things not worth hiding, a use made into a noun by Richelet (1680).^[7][3]

The religious sense “relating to the sacred mysteries” came only in the 17th century, with Bossuet (1675).^[6][3] Chateaubriand (1803) used the masculine as a neuter noun, le mystérieux, for the mysterious quality of something.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1461 – The adverb mystérieusement.^[6]
• Before 1475 – Chastellain uses mystérieux for something enigmatic.^[3]
• 1552 – Motz mysterieux, in Rabelais's Quart Livre.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “hiding something unknown”.^[7]
• Before 1662 – Pascal uses it of a secretive person.^[3]
• 1675 – The religious sense, in Bossuet.^[3][6]
• 1803 – Le mystérieux as a noun, in Chateaubriand.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary or technical) Relating to a cult or mystery reserved for the initiated: des rites mystérieux.^[8][3]
2. That cannot be known or explained, mysterious: une maladie mystérieuse; strange, suggesting hidden forces: une vallée mystérieuse.^[8][7]
3. Hard to understand, enigmatic: une lettre mystérieuse.^[8][2]
4. Kept secret, hidden: un rendez-vous mystérieux.^[2][7]
5. (of a person) Who makes a mystery of things, secretive; whose identity is unknown: un mystérieux correspondant.^[8][3]

Noun

1. Le mystérieux: the mysterious side of something.^[3][2]

Word family

• mystérieusement

Related words

• mystère
• mystique
• Latin mystērium

References

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