réaliste

Forms

réaliste m or f by sense (plural réalistes)^[1]

Etymology

In philosophy it is borrowed from Medieval Latin realista (about 1475, Petrus Nigri), formed with the suffix -ista from the adjective reālis (“real”),^[2] whose plural, used as a noun for the realists opposed to the nominalists from the 12th century, gave Middle French reaulx.^[2][3] Rey treats it as a learned derivative of réel after that Latin plural.^[3] In art and literature it is formed from French réel + -iste as a learned word, after the Medieval Latin adjective.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as a noun in philosophy, for a follower of realism: Rey and the Robert date it 1587,^[3][4] the TLFi 1599, in a list of Thomistes, Scotistes, Occanistes, Nominalistes, et Réalistes by Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The philosophical noun long preceded réalisme, and it was used as an adjective only from 1869.^[3][2] In the 19th century it followed réalisme into literature (1837 in the TLFi, 1832 in Rey) and into art, first in 1852 in words attributed to Courbet in a satirical text: je suis un réaliste.^[2][3] Before 1872 Gautier used it pejoratively of works that depict the vulgar side of reality, as naturaliste would be.^[2][3]

At the same time it spread into everyday use for a person with a sense of realities and material interests, as a noun from 1855 and as an adjective from 1856.^[2][3] From 1888 it also qualifies what shows that sense.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1587 – First record in philosophy, according to Rey and the Grand Robert.^[3][4]
• 1599 – Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde lists the Réalistes beside the nominalists.^[2]
• 1837 – Planche writes of poètes réalistes.^[2]
• 1852 – Je suis un réaliste is put in Courbet's mouth.^[2][3]
• 1855 – L'école réaliste in painting, and the noun for a person with a sense of realities.^[2]
• 1856 – The adjective “having a sense of realities”.^[2][3]
• 1869 – Littré records the philosophical adjective.^[2][5]
• 1888 – Maupassant uses it of a supposition showing a sense of realities.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective and noun

1. (philosophy) A follower of realism, opposed to the nominalists or the idealists, also as an adjective.^[2][5][6]
2. (art, literature) A follower of realism, also as an adjective: un peintre réaliste, une description réaliste.^[5][7][6]
3. (dated) Depicting the vulgar side of reality.^[5][8]
4. Chanson réaliste: a dramatic song about unhappy love, the night and the streets.^[8]
5. Having a sense of realities, practical, pragmatic: un ministre réaliste, un budget réaliste.^[7][8]

Word family

• réalistement
• néoréaliste

Related words

• réel
• réalisme
• réalité
• Medieval Latin realista

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 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 k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)