républicain

Forms

républicain (feminine républicaine, masculine plural républicains, feminine plural républicaines)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French république + -ain.^[2][3][4] The TLFi explains the later bird name by the colonial life of these birds, and Rey links it to the noun's old sense “animal community”.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as a noun in 1586, in Bounin's Satyre au roy, meaning a citizen of a republic.^[2][5] The Grand Robert notes that this sense was still used by Voltaire.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the early 17th century the noun meant a supporter of government founded on the sovereignty of the people (1615, d'Aubigné), often in a country with another regime, usually a monarchy.^[2][5] The adjective appears in 1658, in Brébeuf, for a person favourable to the republic; in the monarchy of the 17th century this could be pejorative, and the Académie of 1694 records it as “opposed to the monarchy, seditious”.^[2][5] The neutral sense “belonging to a republican form of government” follows (1690 according to Rey, 1719 in Vertot according to the TLFi).^[5][2]

The French Revolution attached it to the First Republic (1795), as in calendrier républicain (1798).^[2] In the 19th century it named political groups and parties (1869), and parti républicain (1904, les républicains in 1875) is a calque of English for one of the two main parties of the United States.^[5] In 1828 it was also given to an African weaverbird that builds a shared nest.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1586 – First record, as a noun for a citizen of a republic, in Bounin.^[2]
• 1615 – D'Aubigné uses the noun for a supporter of popular sovereignty.^[2]
• 1658 – The adjective appears in Brébeuf's poems.^[2][6]
• 1694 – The Académie records a pejorative use, “hostile to the monarchy”.^[2]
• 1719 – Vertot uses it for what belongs to a republican government.^[2]
• 1798 – Calendrier républicain is recorded.^[2]
• 1828 – Mozin and Biber record the bird name.^[2]
• 1904 – Parti républicain is used of the American party.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In favour of the republic as a form of government.^[7][8]
2. Relating to a republic, or to the French Republic: calendrier républicain.^[7][2]
3. Relating to the Republican Party of the United States.^[8]

Noun

1. A supporter of the republic, a republican.^[7][8]
2. A member of the American Republican Party, opposed to the Democrats.^[8][5]
3. A small African sparrow-like bird that builds a collective nest.^[9][2]

Related words

• république
• Latin rēs pūblica

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives the bird a separate headword (républicain 2, 1828), also derived from république.^[3] The derivative républicaniser is recorded from 1792 and républicanisme from 1750.^[2][5]

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 r 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)