patrie

Forms

patrie f (plural patries)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin patria (“native country, native soil”),^[2][3][4] properly “the country of the father”, from pater (“father”), the source of père.^[3][5][1] In Christian and Medieval Latin the word also meant “country, region” and, in the phrase “heavenly country”, heaven itself.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg add that the borrowing was supported by Italian patria, already in use.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean Chartier, who died in 1464, writes in his history of Charles VII of the proverb that it is lawful and praiseworthy for everyone to fight pour sa patrie.^[6][7] The TLFi's first record is Gringore in 1516, where the word means the nation one belongs to;^[2] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert date Gringore's use to 1511.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was still felt as new in du Bellay's time: Charles Fontaine reproached du Bellay for it, Qui a païs n'a que faire de patrie “whoever has a païs has no need of a patrie”.^[4][6] The Christian sense came with it as céleste patrie “heaven” (1547).^[2][3]

The modern political sense spread only at the end of the 17th century, from the reforming writings of Vauban, and above all in the 18th century, together with patriote, nation and république; these ideas met during the Revolution, and in the 19th and 20th centuries the word took on nationalist and wartime overtones.^[3] From the 17th century it was also used in a plain, spatial sense for one's native town (1611, Cotgrave), notably in petite patrie (1762, Rousseau).^[3][2][7] Buffon's la patrie de (1770) is the place where certain people or things are found at their best, and mère patrie (1798) was first the country on which a colony depends.^[2][3]

Timeline

• Before 1464 – Jean Chartier writes pour sa patrie.^[6][7]
• 1511 – Gringore uses it.^[4][5]
• 1516 – Gringore's Fantaisies: the nation one belongs to.^[2]
• 1547 – Marguerite de Navarre has la céleste patrie “heaven”.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records it for one's native town.^[2][3]
• 1762 – Petite patrie in Rousseau.^[3][7]
• 1770 – Buffon writes la patrie de for the place where something thrives.^[2]
• 1798 – The Académie records la mère patrie.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The nation or political community to which one belongs or feels one belongs, and the country it lives in; homeland, fatherland, as in Ils ont quitté leur patrie pour trouver du travail.^[8][2][1]
2. La mère patrie: the mother country of a colony or of emigrants.^[8][2]
3. One's native town or region;^[2][6] la petite patrie: the place where one was born.^[2][6]
4. La patrie de…: the place where certain people or things are found at their best: La Toscane est la patrie des peintres.^[2][6]
5. (religion) La céleste patrie: heaven.^[2][7]

Related words

• patriote
• compatriote
• apatride
• expatrier
• rapatrier
• père
• Latin patria

Usage notes

Travail, famille, patrie was the motto of the French State under Vichy.^[1] French formed no lasting derivatives of patrie: expatrier (1395) and rapatrier (about 1462) are older than the noun and come from Latin patria.^[3][4]

References

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