odieux

Forms

odieux (feminine odieuse, masculine plural odieux, feminine plural odieuses)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin odiōsus (“hateful, unpleasant, tiresome”),^[2][3][4] from odium (“hatred”),^[5][6][7] the noun of ōdī (“I hate”), a perfect with present meaning.^[7][3] Rey notes that no other Indo-European language has an exact match, but compares Old English atol (“ugly”), the English word hate and French haïr.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan odioz, Spanish odioso and Italian odioso.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1376 in the phrase avoir odieus “to hold in hatred”, in a document cited by Godefroy.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Like the Latin word, it first meant “held in hatred” and “deserving hatred”.^[3] In the 16th century it also had an active sense, “full of hatred” (Ronsard, 1550), weakened to “jealous, envious” (1540), but the passive sense “detestable, unpleasant” (recorded by Estienne in 1549) became the usual one; the purely passive use was fixed in the 17th century.^[3][2] Used as a noun, l'odieux “what deserves hatred” appears in Mirabeau in 1791–92.^[2][7] The weaker sense “unbearable”, said of a person's behaviour, dates from the early 20th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 1376 – Avoir odieus “to hold in hatred” is recorded.^[2]
• 1539 – Calvin uses the adverb odieusement.^[2][3]
• 1549 – Estienne records the sense “detestable”.^[2]
• 1550 – Ronsard uses it in the active sense “full of hatred”.^[3]
• 1791–92 – Mirabeau uses l'odieux as a noun.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Arousing hatred, disgust or indignation; odious, hateful, of people or of acts.^[8][2][1]
2. Very unpleasant, unbearable, especially of a person's behaviour: il a été odieux avec ses voisins.^[8][1]

Noun

1. L'odieux: the hateful or shameful character of something.^[2][7]

Word family

• odieusement

Related words

• haïr
• Latin odium

Usage notes

Littré records the saying toute comparaison est odieuse, since comparing one person with another offends one or both of them.^[7]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert