poétique

Forms

poétique (plural poétiques)^[1] Middle French poëtique, poetique.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin poēticus (“poetic”),^[2][1][3][4] from Ancient Greek ποιητικός (poiētikós, “able to create, inventive, poetic”),^[2][1][5] from ποιητής (poiētḗs, “maker, poet”),^[6][7] from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, create”).^[5][7]

The noun (1637) is the adjective used as a noun on the model of poētica and ποιητική (poiētikḗ) (understood τέχνη (tékhnē)) “the art of poetry”, the title of Aristotle's treatise;^[3][7] the TLFi treats it as a borrowing of the Latin noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme uses art poëtique in his translation of Aristotle's Politics (1372–1374), and in 1377 he calls words poëtiques in the sense “proper to poetry”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the sense “relating to poetry” came licence poétique (1480), the poet's freedom with the rules of the language, used figuratively by Madame de Sévigné in 1676 for any liberty taken with the truth.^[2][6] In the 16th century it was applied to people gifted for poetry (Du Bellay, 1549), to the fureur poétique that inspires the poet (1552), to an italic type in printing (1572), and by Montaigne (1588) to what moves the feelings as poetry does.^[2][5] Jakobson's fonction poétique of language (1963) is a linguistic use.^[2][4]

The noun, first found in 1599 in an unclear sense, means a treatise on poetry from 1637, when Scudéry refers to Aristotle's Poétique;^[2][8] it later came to mean the poetic system of a poet or a period (18th century) and, by extension, the theory of any art, as in Diderot's poétique des ruines (1767).^[2]

Timeline

• 1372–1374 – Nicole Oresme writes art poëtique.^[2]
• 1377 – Oresme uses it for “proper to poetry”.^[2]
• 1480 – First record of licence poétique.^[2]
• 1549 – Du Bellay writes of espris poëtiques, minds gifted for poetry.^[2]
• 1552 – Pontus de Tyard writes of the fureur poétique.^[2]
• 1572 – It names an italic typeface.^[2]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses it for what stirs a poetic feeling.^[2][5]
• 1599 – La Popelinière uses la poëtique as a noun.^[2]
• 1637 – Scudéry refers to Aristotle's Poétique, a treatise on poetry.^[2][3][8]
• 1676 – Madame de Sévigné uses licence poétique figuratively.^[2]
• 1767 – Diderot writes of the poétique des ruines.^[2]
• 1963 – Jakobson names the fonction poétique of language.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or proper to poetry: art poétique, licence poétique.^[8][4][9][6]
2. Full of poetry, lyrical: une prose poétique.^[8][9][5]
3. Moving the feelings and imagination by its beauty, charm or delicacy: un soir d'été poétique.^[8][4][9]
4. Gifted for poetry.^[4][2]
5. Of a word or style: used to give speech an ornate, elevated tone.^[4]
6. (linguistics) Fonction poétique: the function of language centred on the message itself.^[4][2]

Noun

1. A treatise setting out the rules of versification and poetic composition.^[8][4][9][2]
2. The general theory of poetry or of literary creation; the poetic system of a writer or period.^[8][4][9]

Word family

• poétiquement

Related words

• poète
• poésie
• poème
• poétiser
• Latin poēticus
• Ancient Greek ποιητικός (poiētikós)

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 k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)