papauté

Forms

papauté f (plural papautés)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French pape + -auté on the model of royauté.^[2][3][4][5] Littré instead analysed it as papal with the ending -ité, contracted as in principauté,^[6] and the French Wiktionary also suggests a corruption of Middle French papalité.^[7] That word was borrowed from Medieval Latin pāpālitās, which has the same sense and is found in the same glossary.^[2][3] Pape itself is from Latin papa, the title of honour of bishops, later reserved for the bishop of Rome.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a French–Latin glossary (Paris, BnF lat. 7684), where papauté glosses Latin papalitas “the dignity of pope”;^[2][8][9] the TLFi dates it to the end of the 14th century,^[2] the DMF to about 1425–1450.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Papauté “dignity of pope” is rare before the end of the 16th century; the TLFi's next record is from Hulsius in 1596.^[3][2] By metonymy it named the period of a pope's reign (1694, Académie) and the system of church government with the pope at its head (1831, Chateaubriand).^[2][3] The rival form papalité went out of use before the 17th century.^[3]

Timeline

• late 14th century – A French–Latin glossary has papauté for Latin papalitas.^[2][3]
• 1596 – Hulsius records the word.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records the sense “period of a pope's reign”.^[2][3]
• 1831 – Chateaubriand uses it for the system of papal government.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The papacy, the dignity or office of pope: Le cardinal fut élevé à la papauté.^[10][11][2]
2. The period during which a pope holds the Holy See; pontificat.^[10][2][6]
3. The church government in which the pope holds supreme authority; the papacy as an institution: les conflits entre l'empereur et la papauté.^[10][11][2]

Related words

• pape
• papal
• papesse
• papisme
• royauté
• pontificat
• Medieval Latin pāpālitās

Usage notes

In the sense “period of a pope's reign” the GLLF calls the word dated, pontificat being more usual.^[12][2]

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 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 g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse