république

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁe.py.blik/^[1]

Forms

république f (plural républiques)^[1] Republique; the Académie wrote republique until 1740, then république.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rēspūblica (“the public thing; the state; the commonwealth”),^[2][3][4][5] a fusion of Latin rēs (“thing”) (see rien) and “publica”, feminine of Latin pūblicus (“public”) (see public), as opposed to private affairs.^[3][6] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word had already become rare in Latin by the end of the 1st century BC.^[4] The DHLF dates a first use to about 1140.^[3]

English republic (about 1600) is from French.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Livre des fais of Marshal Boucicaut (about 1410) uses it of the republican Italian towns: vivez en republique comme nous, et soyons tous unis comme freres.^[4][6][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century contact with Antiquity revived the sense “the state, whatever its government” (1520), as in Bodin's trois sortes de Républiques (1576), monarchy, aristocracy and democracy;^[2][4][3] Du Bellay (1549) also opposed les roys et les republiques.^[2] Before the Revolution the word had no legal definition; dictionaries described it as popular government.^[3] It was also used of an organised community (Republique Chrestienne, 1549) and of the république des lettres (Guez de Balzac, 1648).^[2][3]

The proclamation of the French Republic (21 September 1792) fixed the modern sense, a state where sovereignty rests with the citizens; coins kept République française, Napoléon empereur until 1808.^[2][4] France has since had five republics (1792, 1848, 1870–1871, 1944–1946, 1958), and the word names many states (république populaire, 1869).^[3] Républicain dates from the late 16th century (d'Aubigné).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1410 – Italian republics, in the Livre de Boucicaut.^[4]
• 1520 – “The state”.^[2]
• 1549 – Les roys et les republiques in Du Bellay.^[2]
• 1576 – Bodin's Six livres de la République.^[4]
• c. 1600 – English republic.^[7]
• 1648 – République des lettres.^[2]
• 1792 – The French Republic.^[2]
• 1869 – République populaire.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A republic: la République française, république fédérale.^[9][1]
2. La République: the French state under this régime: président de la République.^[3][10]
3. (dated) The state, the commonwealth, la République de Platon.^[2][8]
4. République des lettres: the world of letters.^[2][11]
5. (familiar) On est en république !: it's a free country!^[9]

Word family

• républicain
• républicanisme

Related words

• public
• rien
• Latin rēspūblica
• English republic

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 315a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse