naïf

Forms

naïf (feminine naïve, masculine plural naïfs, feminine plural naïves)^[1] Old French nominative naïs, as in fol naïs.^[2][3] In the 16th century the plural, written naïfz, was pronounced without the /f/.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French naïf, inherited from Latin nātīvus (“born, innate, natural”), by regular sound change.^[2][3][5][1] The Latin adjective is derived from nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”).^[3][6][7] The same Latin word was later borrowed as natif, the learned doublet of the inherited word.^[3][1][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan nadiu and archaic Italian natio, both only in the literal sense.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the first half of the 12th century the Cambridge Psalter uses it as a noun meaning a “native”, and Wace's Brut (1155) has the adjective naïve de “native of”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the word had many senses that modern French has lost.^[3] Besides “native” (a sense taken over by natif), it meant “natural” of a rock or a mountain (about 1150), hence “firm, solid” (roche naïve, about 1160) and “unaltered, raw” (about 1200).^[2][3] Of a person it meant “innate, by birth”, as in fol naïs “a born fool” (about 1165).^[2][3]

In the 16th century it took the favourable sense “true to life, natural”: in the arts it meant “imitating nature” (1549), and au naïf (1565) was “true to life”, while of a person it meant “sincere, straightforward”.^[2][3] These senses aged in the 19th century.^[3] The modern sense “too trusting, lacking discernment” spread in the 17th century (1642), though Rey sees it in germ in Old French uses such as dame naïve “a foolish woman”.^[3] The sense “natural, unaffected” survived in the arts: le naïf as a genre (1845), then the self-taught painters of popular art such as the Douanier Rousseau.^[3][2] English borrowed the feminine form as naive in the 1650s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – The Cambridge Psalter uses it for a native.^[2][3]
• c. 1150 – The Roman de Thèbes uses mont naïf “a natural mountain”.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace's Brut has gent naïve de “people native of”.^[2]
• c. 1165 – Fol naïs “a born fool” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1549 – Tyard uses it for what imitates nature.^[2]
• 1565 – Ronsard has au naïf “true to life”.^[2]
• 1642 – The sense “too credulous” appears.^[3]
• 1650s – English borrows it as naive.^[8]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records le naïf as a genre.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) Natural, unaffected, without artifice: art naïf, naive popular art, un peintre naïf.^[9][10]
2. (dated) True to life, faithfully representing its subject.^[10][4]
3. (dated, literary) Native, original.^[10][2]
4. Trusting and simple through ignorance or lack of experience, ingenuous: Une question naïve.^[9][10]
5. Excessively credulous, gullible.^[9]

Noun

1. A naive, gullible person: Il me prend pour un naïf.^[9]
2. A painter of naive art.^[11]

Word family

• naïveté
• naïvement

Related words

• natif
• naître
• nativité
• Latin nātīvus
• English naive

Usage notes

A separate word naïf, an acronym of né après l'interdiction des farines, has been used since 1996 for a farm animal born after the ban on animal meal in ruminant feed.^[10]

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 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 44a
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)