presbytère

Forms

presbytère m (plural presbytères)^[2] Old French presbiterie (about 1170), Middle French presbitaire (1460); the spelling presbytère dates from 1549.^[3][1][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin presbyterium.^[5][3][6] In Church Latin the word meant the order of priests and the priesthood, then the assembly of priests, and then the place where they sat, the choir of a church.^[5][3] It is from Greek πρεσβυτέριον (presbutérion, “council of elders”), from πρεσβύτερος (presbúteros, “elder”), the comparative of πρέσβυς (présbus, “old”).^[3][4][7] The Latin noun belongs with presbyter (“priest”), the source of prêtre.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1170, in the Livre des Rois, presbiterie meant the choir of a church, the part of the sanctuary kept for the clergy: en la nef et al presbiterie.^[5][9][3]

Semantic evolution

Of the Latin senses French kept only the place where priests are: first the part of the sanctuary reserved for the clergy in the old basilicas, then the house of the parish priest, recorded in the Cent nouvelles nouvelles (1456–1467).^[3][5] The word was little used in the Middle Ages, and Bloch and Wartburg date the modern sense, which has prevailed, to the 18th century.^[8][3]

The related adjective presbytéral (about 1355) is the adjective of prêtre, as in maison presbytérale, a synonym of presbytère.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Presbiterie names the choir of a church in the Livre des Rois.^[5][3]
• 1456–1467 – The Cent nouvelles nouvelles use it for the priest's house.^[5][3]
• 1460 – The form presbitaire is recorded.^[3][1]
• 1549 – The spelling presbytère appears, in Robert Estienne.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The house of a parish priest, a presbytery or rectory; also the house of a Protestant minister: le jardin du presbytère.^[10][11][7]

Related words

• prêtre
• presbytéral
• presbyte
• Ecclesiastical Latin presbyterium

Usage notes

The word cure² is a synonym.^[10][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 360b
7. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)