oblat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔ.bla/^[1]

Forms

oblat m (plural oblats, feminine oblate)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin oblātus (“offered”), the past participle of Latin offerō (“to offer”) (see offrir),^[2][3][4][5] used as a noun in Church Latin for a child offered to a monastery.^[2][3] The feminine “oblate” “host, eucharistic bread” is from Church Latin Late Latin oblāta (“offering”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Robert Estienne (1549) has oblat de religion, a layman living in a monastery to which he had given his goods.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Cotgrave (1611) uses it for a novice, and Furetière (1690) for a child vowed to God at birth.^[2] Pasquier (1607) describes the oblat as an old soldier crippled in the king's service and given his keep in an abbey of royal appointment; the feminine was also used of a poor noblewoman so placed.^[2][3][6] From 1721 (Trévoux) oblate named a nun of the order of Saint Frances of Rome, and, from 1815 the word was used of members of congregations such as the Oblats de Marie-Immaculée.^[2][7] Huysmans's novel L'Oblat (1903) gave oblature.^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Oblation.^[3]
• 1549 – Oblat de religion in Estienne.^[2]
• 1607 – An invalid soldier in an abbey, in Pasquier.^[2]
• 1690 – A child vowed to God, in Furetière.^[2]
• 1721 – Oblate.^[2]
• 1815 – Members of religious congregations.^[7]
• 1903 – Huysmans's L'Oblat.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oblate: a layperson attached to a religious community without taking vows.^[8][1]
2. A member of certain congregations: les Oblats de Marie-Immaculée.^[8][7]
3. (history) A child given to a monastery; an invalid soldier lodged in an abbey.^[2][6]
4. (plural, liturgy) What is offered at Mass.^[8]

Word family

• oblature

Related words

• oblation
• offrir
• oublie
• Latin oblātus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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. 7, 267a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c 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