renaissance

Forms

renaissance f (plural renaissances)^[1] Middle French renaiscence (1363).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from French renaître (“to be reborn”), modelled on naissance.^[2][3][5][6] Wiktionary also analyses it as the prefix re- added to the noun.^[1] That verb continues Vulgar Latin *renāscō, for Latin renāscor (“to be born again”), from nāscor (“to be born”).^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as renaiscence in 1363 in the Miracles de Nostre-Dame, in the theological phrase renaiscence par baptesme, the spiritual rebirth of baptism.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word was first a term of theology for spiritual regeneration, and by La Boétie (before 1563) it also named the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death.^[2][3] It took a secular sense long after the verb: the regrowth of woodland in 1515 and of hair in 1598.^[3][2][9]

In 1692 Le Maistre, quoted by Bouhours, spoke of the renaissance des lettres humaines, a new flowering of learning, but still as a general use, like renaissance des sciences in 1801.^[2][3] The historical sense, the return to the models of antiquity that began in Italy and spread through Europe in the 15th century, is found only in the early 19th century: Sainte-Beuve wrote of the poètes de la renaissance in 1828 and Fortoul of the artistes de la Renaissance in 1829.^[2][3] Rey points out that the Italians themselves had named the movement in the 15th century (Rinascità, then Rinascimento), but in French the word was too bound to its religious sense.^[3] Used like an adjective, renaissance described a style from 1835 (maison renaissance, Michelet).^[2][9] English took Renaissance from French in 1840.^[8]

Timeline

• 1363 – Renaiscence par baptesme in the Miracles de Nostre-Dame.^[2][3]
• 1515 – A royal ordinance uses it for the regrowth of woods.^[2][9]
• Before 1563 – La Boétie uses it for the rebirth of the soul.^[2][3]
• 1598 – Joubert uses it for the regrowth of hair.^[2]
• 1692 – Le Maistre speaks of the renaissance des lettres humaines.^[2][3]
• 1828 – Sainte-Beuve writes of the poètes de la renaissance.^[2][3]
• 1829 – Fortoul writes of the artistes de la Renaissance.^[2]
• 1835 – Michelet uses it as a style label in maison renaissance.^[2]
• 1840 – English borrows Renaissance.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A new birth, rebirth, as in the successive rebirths of beings in Indian religions: see réincarnation.^[10][2][6]
2. (religion) The spiritual regeneration of a person: renaissance en Jésus-Christ.^[10][5][11]
3. New life or new vigour after an illness or a hard time: Ces vacances furent pour lui une renaissance.^[4][6]
4. (figurative) A revival, a new flourishing of a society, an institution or an activity: la renaissance des arts, la renaissance d'une ville après la guerre.^[10][6][12]
5. La Renaissance (with a capital): the intellectual and artistic movement that began in 15th-century Italy and spread through Europe, based on a return to the art and ideas of antiquity, and the period from the 14th or 15th century to the end of the 16th.^[10][12][4]
6. Used like an adjective, in the style of the Renaissance: un fauteuil Renaissance.^[2][9]
7. (forestry) The regrowth of a wood after felling.^[11][9]

Related words

• renaître
• naissance
• renaissant
• Latin renāscor
• English Renaissance

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)