réfractaire

Forms

réfractaire (plural réfractaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin refractārius (“stubborn, intractable”),^[2][3][1] first recorded in 1539.^[4][5][6] The Latin adjective is derived from refringō (“to break open, break up”),^[2][5][7] which is formed from re- and frangō (“to break”).^[7] Rey takes its first sense to have been that of breaking things, and thinks that Medieval Latin refragor (“to contradict, resist”) helped turn the idea of attacking into that of resisting, of not letting oneself be broken.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg ascribe the physical sense of 1762 to the influence of réfraction.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses it in the Tiers Livre (1546) of a person hard to bring into line: vous tire en partie adverse et refractaire, comme disent les clercs “draws you onto the opposing and refractory side, as the clerks say”.^[2][7] The GLLF dates the sense “rebellious, unruly” from Robert Estienne in 1539.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first described a person or a group who resisted an authority, with réfractaire à from 1587, and it was used as a noun from 1560.^[2][4] During the Revolution it named the priests who refused the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1791–1792), and under the Consulate and the Empire the conscripts who dodged military service.^[4][2] During the German occupation of 1940–1944 it was used in France and Belgium of those who refused compulsory labour service in Germany.^[4]

From 1762 the Académie recorded a chemical sense, of a substance that will not melt or melts only with great difficulty, the source of argile réfractaire and brique réfractaire.^[2][4][6] Medicine applied it from 1827 to an organism that resists an infection, and later to a disease that resists treatment.^[2][4] Figuratively, réfractaire à came to describe someone unable to appreciate or understand something (1834, Balzac).^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1539 – First recorded, in Robert Estienne's dictionary.^[6][4]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it in the Tiers Livre.^[2]
• 1560 – First used as a noun, “a rebel”.^[2]
• 1587 – Réfractaire à “not submitting to (an authority)”.^[2]
• 1762 – The Académie records the chemical sense “very hard to melt”.^[2][3]
• 1791 – Used of priests who rejected the regime set up by the Revolution.^[2][4]
• 1816 – Conscrit réfractaire is recorded.^[2]
• 1827 – A medical sense, “not affected by a disease”.^[2]
• 1834 – Balzac uses it of a person unable to understand or learn.^[2]
• 1956 – As a noun, “a refractory material”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Refusing to obey or submit, rebellious: un employé réfractaire au règlement.^[2][8]
2. (by extension) Insensitive or closed to something: il reste réfractaire à la poésie.^[8][2]
3. (history) Of a priest: having refused the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (prêtre réfractaire).^[8][7]
4. (history) Of a conscript: evading military service (conscrit réfractaire).^[8][7]
5. (technical) Resisting very high temperatures, refractory: brique réfractaire.^[6][1]
6. (medicine) Resistant to an infection, or to treatment.^[6][4]

Noun

1. A rebel, one who refuses to submit to an authority.^[2][7]
2. (history) A refractory priest or conscript, or one who refused compulsory labour service in 1940–1944.^[2][4]
3. (technical) A refractory material.^[6][2]

Related words

• réfraction
• réfringent
• Latin refractārius

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert