Etymologically
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mystérieux

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Pronunciation

  • /mis.te.ʁjø/[1]

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

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