religion

Forms

religion f (plural religions)^[1] Old French religiun, religïon and relegïon.^[2] Anglo-Norman spellings include religioun and relygyun.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin religiō (“scrupulous attention, conscience, religious feeling, worship”).^[2][4][5] In Christian Latin the word had already come to mean the monastic life, a monastery and the religious profession (5th century), a religious order (1143) and the whole of religious truths and duties.^[2][6]

The origin of the Latin word was disputed already in antiquity.^[6][2] Following Lactantius and Tertullian, Christian writers connected it with religō (“to bind fast”), from re- and ligō (“to bind”), religion being a bond with the divine.^[6][7] Cicero derived it from relegō (“to gather up again”), from legō (“to gather, read”).^[6][7][8] Émile Benveniste took this verb in the abstract sense “to go back over, take up again in thought”, which fits the classical meaning “scruple, meticulous care”, and set aside the link with the verb of binding, whose action noun is religātiō.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan religio, Spanish religión and Italian religione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, about 1130 in the Lois de Guillaume, is iglise de religiun “church of religion”, that is, a monastery.^[2][8] The DHLF and Bloch and Wartburg date the word to about 1085.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word came into French with the narrowed sense it had in medieval Latin, a monastery or religious house, a use that became rare towards the end of the 17th century.^[6] From it came a religious order (about 1155) and the state of a person bound by vows, as in entrer en religion “to take vows”, recorded in 1283 in Beaumanoir.^[6][2]

From the first half of the 12th century it also named the beliefs and practices that bind people to the divine, as in commune religion for Latin catholica religio in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2] Until the middle of the 16th century it applied only to Roman Catholicism; it was extended to other faiths in the 16th century (1538), and la Religion came to mean Protestantism (1533), hence ceux de la religion “the Protestants”.^[6][2] Guerres de religion is recorded in 1701, after guerres de la religion in Furetière in 1690.^[2][6] Furetière still held that the worship of false gods was called religion only by misuse, though religion de Mahomet had appeared in Montaigne about 1590.^[6][2] The Enlightenment brought religion naturelle (about 1742), and religion d'État is recorded in 1868.^[6]

Outside the Church the word took on a subjective sense of piety and devotion in the 12th century, and, from the early 17th century that of a scrupulous respect for a moral duty, seen in se faire une religion de (1677), surprendre la religion “to abuse someone's good faith” (1690) and éclairer la religion “to enlighten someone” (1797).^[6][2] Since 1810 it has also meant any activity pursued with the devotion of a faith, often ironically.^[6] The English word religion (about 1200) came from the Anglo-French and Old French word and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – Iglise de religiun “monastery” appears in the Lois de Guillaume.^[2]
• c. 1145 – Wace uses it for piety, devotion.^[2]
• c. 1150 – Wace uses it for the state of a person bound by vows in an order.^[2]
• 1283 – Entrer en religion appears in Beaumanoir's Coutumes de Beauvaisis.^[2]
• 1533 – Ceulx de la religion “the Protestants” is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1588 – Montaigne writes religion chrestienne.^[2]
• c. 1590 – Montaigne writes religion de Mahumet.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records surprendre la religion “to abuse someone's good faith”.^[2][6]
• 1701 – Guerres de religion is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1797 – Éclairer la religion is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1868 – Religion d'État is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The recognition of a higher power on which human destiny depends, and the outlook and conduct that follow from it; religion in general.^[10][11]
2. A person's faith or religious conviction.^[10][12]
3. A particular system of beliefs and practices shared by a group: la religion catholique, la religion réformée.^[10][12]
4. Entrer en religion: to take vows in a religious order.^[10][12]
5. (literary) A devoted attachment to some value or activity, felt as a duty.^[10][12]
6. Se faire une religion: to make up one's mind, form a conviction about something.^[10]

Word family

• religionnaire

Related words

• religieux
• Latin religiō
• English religion

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 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b 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, 230b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)