recès

Forms

recès m (invariable)^[1] Also spelled recez, the only spelling of the Académie from 1762 to 1878.^[2][3] Middle French rechès (about 1380).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recessus (“withdrawal, retreat, secluded place”), a word French took from Latin several times over.^[2][4][3] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of recēdō (“to go back, withdraw”), from re- and cēdō (“to go”).^[5][6]

The sense of the Diet's record is explained, after Du Cange, by the fact that these acts were drawn up when the members of the Diet were about to withdraw.^[2][3] The literary sense “retreat, refuge” of the 20th century is probably a new borrowing of that meaning from Latin, taking up the form of the 16th-century word.^[2] An Old French recès “hiding place”, found in ⟨Sone de Nansai⟩, is hard to tell from forms of recet (from Latin recipiō) and does not seem to be connected with it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the 14th century, in a variant reading of a manuscript of Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval, meaning a halt or pause.^[2] Jean d'Outremeuse writes rechès about 1380, and Godefroy records reces “rest, respite” from the same time.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The old sense of a pause or respite was still listed by Cotgrave in 1611, then dropped out of use.^[2] In the 16th century the word was borrowed again for the record in which the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire set down its decisions (recez, 1551).^[2][3][5] From this it passed into diplomacy: in 1819 a Recès-Général summed up the agreements of a territorial commission meeting at Frankfurt, and the word came to mean the record of conventions agreed between two powers.^[2][5]

In the 20th century writers such as Claudel used it in the Latin sense of a secluded place, a retreat, often figuratively of the depths of the soul or the conscience.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1300s – Recès “halt, pause” in a manuscript variant of Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval.^[2]
• c. 1380 – Jean d'Outremeuse writes rechès.^[2]
• 1551 – Recez names the act recording the deliberations of the German Diet.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the old sense for the last time.^[2]
• 1762 – The Académie spells the word recez (until 1878).^[2]
• 1819 – Used of the record of international conventions (Frankfurt).^[2][5]
• 1907 – Claudel uses it for a secluded inner place.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) The record in which the diets of the Holy Roman Empire set down their deliberations.^[2][3][7]
2. (diplomacy) The minutes of conventions agreed between two powers.^[2][3][5]
3. (dated or literary) A place sheltered from the outside world, a refuge or recess: au plus profond recès de sa mémoire.^[2][4]

Related words

• Latin recessus

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 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 d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert 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 f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 143b
7. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)