pornographie

Forms

pornographie f (plural pornographies)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French pornographe + -ie.^[2][3][4][5] Pornographe (1769) is from Ancient Greek πορνογράφος (pornográphos, “writer on prostitutes”), a compound of the Greek word for “prostitute” and the element meaning “writing”.^[2][6][1] Rey explains the Greek word for the prostitute as originally “woman sold”, from a verb meaning “to sell”.^[6]

The noun was preceded in the Renaissance by a direct borrowing from late Greek, pornegraphie, in 1558.^[6][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boiste records it in 1800 for a treatise on prostitution, the sense its base had in Restif de La Bretonne's Le Pornographe (1769).^[2][6][5]

Semantic evolution

The learned sense “treatise on prostitution” went out of use, and the word came to mean a representation of obscene things, first of an obscene painting (1842, in the Académie's Complément).^[2][6][7] By extension it names the deliberate, explicit depiction of sexuality in writing, pictures and shows;^[6][7] Rey notes that it keeps a sense of transgression that sets it against érotisme and brings it near obscène.^[6][7]

From it came pornographique (1832), shortened in familiar use to porno (before 1893), used as a noun from 1964.^[6] English took pornography from the French word in 1842.^[8]

Timeline

• 1558 – A direct borrowing pornegraphie is recorded.^[6][5]
• 1769 – Restif de La Bretonne's Le Pornographe gives the base word.^[2][6]
• 1800 – Boiste records pornographie as “treatise on prostitution”.^[2][6]
• 1832 – The adjective pornographique appears.^[6]
• 1842 – The Académie's Complément uses it for an obscene painting, and English borrows the word.^[2][8]
• before 1893 – The short form porno appears.^[6]
• 1964 – Porno is used as a noun.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Pornography: the representation, in writing, drawings, photographs or films, of obscene things meant for the public.^[7][1][4]
2. By extension, deliberate obscenity in literature or in shows.^[7][4]
3. (obsolete) A treatise on prostitution.^[4][9][2]

Word family

• pornographique
• porno

Related words

• pornographe
• English pornography

References

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