péché

Forms

péché m (plural péchés)^[1] Old French pechez (nominative singular, late 10th century), pechet, pechié (12th century);^[2][3][4] péché is found from the 14th century.^[5][6] Ménage recommended peché without the accent.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pechié, inherited from Latin peccātum (“fault, error, (Christian Latin) sin”), the neuter past participle of peccō (“to stumble; to err; to sin”) used as a noun.^[3][7][6] The sense “fault against the religious law” is a specialisation of Church Latin.^[3][7] The Latin verb first meant “to stumble, make a false step”, and its origin is unknown.^[8]

Cognate with Romanian păcat, Italian peccato, Occitan pecat, Catalan pecat, Spanish pecado and Portuguese pecado; the Latin word also passed into Basque bekatu and Breton pec'hed.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as pechez in the Passion (late 10th century), meaning a fault against the divine law.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense gathered many fixed phrases: péché mortel (about 1135, mortex pechié), péché véniel (about 1245), the seven deadly sins (1220–1240, les .VII. pechiés creminaus, later pechez capitaux in Pomey, 1671), péché contre nature (1288), péché contre le Saint-Esprit (Calvin, 1541) and Pascal's sins of omission and commission (1656).^[2][3] Péché originel (late 14th century) is a calque of Christian Latin peccatum originale, probably coined by Saint Augustine in 397.^[3] Most of the others have equivalents in scholastic Latin.^[3]

From about 1050 the word was also used in the broader Latin sense of a fault, especially a moral one, as in péché de jeunesse (1649, Corneille) and péché mignon “a small weakness” (1718).^[3] Old French also used it for a wrong or a misfortune suffered, and est pechié meant “it's a pity”, like Italian peccato.^[3] By metonymy it has named the sinner's state since 1306, as in vivre dans le péché.^[3] Laid comme le péché is recorded at the end of the 17th century, in Saint-Simon.^[6]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Pechez in the Passion.^[2]
• c. 1135 – Mortex pechié “mortal sin” in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• c. 1245 – Péché véniel.^[2]
• 1288 – Pechiés contre nature in Renart le Nouvel.^[2]
• 1306 – The state of sin.^[3]
• Late 14th century – Péché originel.^[2][3]
• 1649 – Péché de jeunesse in Corneille.^[3]
• 1656 – Sins of omission and commission in Pascal's Provinciales.^[2]
• 1671 – Pechez capitaux in Pomey.^[2]
• 1718 – Péché mignon.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (religion) A sin: a conscious act against the divine or religious law: confesser ses péchés.^[8][2] Péché mortel, véniel, originel, les sept péchés capitaux, the seven deadly sins.^[8][2]
2. (religion) The state of sin: vivre dans le péché.^[3][2]
3. A fault or weakness, especially a slight one: péché de jeunesse, a youthful error, péché mignon, a small vice one indulges in.^[8][3]
4. Laid comme le péché: very ugly.^[6]

Related words

• pécher
• pécheur
• peccadille
• impeccable
• Latin peccātum

Usage notes

The proverb à tout péché miséricorde (“every sin can be forgiven”) is recorded by the Petit Robert.^[8] Péché is not to be confused with pêche or pêcher, which have other origins.^[4]

References

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