raffinement

Forms

raffinement m (plural raffinements)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French raffiner + -ment.^[2][3][4][1] The verb raffiner (1519) belongs to the family of the adjective fin²,^[5][6] which Bloch and Wartburg trace to Latin fīnis used of the highest point of something.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Olivier de Serres's Théâtre d'agriculture (1600) has it for the action of making something finer or better: pour le raffinement du Fruit.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In 1617 it meant the fine quality of a substance, in a treatise on gunpowder.^[2] From the middle of the 17th century it took abstract senses: the extreme form of a feeling or a quality (Scarron, 1655, par un rafinement de prudence), then, in the plural, studied subtleties, as in Molière's rafinemens ridicules (1663).^[2] Bouhours (1671) uses it of acts that show or demand subtlety,^[2] and Furetière (1690) records the general sense of a deliberate search for delicacy and elegance.^[7]

The material sense of refining a substance passed to raffinage, while raffinement kept the abstract ones.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1600 – Olivier de Serres uses raffinement of improving fruit.^[2]
• 1617 – It names the fineness of gunpowder.^[2]
• 1655 – Scarron writes un rafinement de prudence.^[2]
• 1663 – Molière mocks leurs rafinemens ridicules.^[2]
• 1671 – Bouhours uses it of subtle acts.^[2][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “studied delicacy”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Refinement, great delicacy and elegance, especially of taste and manners: le raffinement de son style.^[4][9][10]
2. Un raffinement: an act or detail that shows or calls for great subtlety: les raffinements de la cuisine.^[4][10][9]
3. Un raffinement de: an extreme degree of something: un raffinement de cruauté.^[2][9]

Related words

• raffiner
• raffiné
• raffinage
• raffinerie
• fin²

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 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)