requiem

Forms

requiem m (plural requiems)^[1] Invariable according to the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Larousse, and written without an accent.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin requiem (“rest”), the accusative singular of requiēs (“rest, repose”), used as a common noun.^[5][6][7] It is the first word of the Catholic prayer of the Office of the Dead that asks God to grant them eternal rest.^[5][6][8][2]

The Latin noun is formed of the intensive re- and quiēs (“calm, rest”), the source of coi and quiet.^[6][9] In Christian authors it also meant the resting place of a saint, the altar over his relics.^[6] Its inherited Old French outcomes, recoi (11th century) and requei (about 1155), meaning “hiding place, shelter” and later “rest”, went out of use in the 17th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in 1277, in the Actes des comtes de Ponthieu, for a prayer for the dead.^[5][7][8] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the word 1223.^[2][3] The prayer begins Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine “grant them eternal rest, Lord”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Messes de requiem, masses for the repose of a dead person's soul, are found in the Songe du Vergier (1378).^[5][6][9] A 16th-century proverb runs Requiem gagne l'argent, et gaudeamus le despend “the requiem earns the money and the gaudeamus spends it”.^[9] In 1690 Furetière records the word for the introit of the mass for the dead, which begins with it.^[5][6]

In 1810 Madame de Staël used it for music composed on the Latin texts of the mass for the dead, writing of Mozart's Requiem.^[5][6] The familiar phrase face de requiem “gloomy, drawn face” is found in Balzac (1832).^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1223 – The date of first record given by the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert.^[2][3]
• 1277 – Recorded for a prayer for the dead in the Actes des comtes de Ponthieu.^[5][8]
• 1378 – Messes de Requiem in the Songe du Vergier.^[5]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “introit of the mass for the dead”.^[5][6]
• 1810 – Madame de Staël uses it for Mozart's musical setting.^[5][6]
• 1832 – Balzac writes une face de requiem.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Catholic liturgy) A prayer or chant for the dead: messe de requiem, a mass for the repose of a dead person's soul.^[3][10][4]
2. The introit of the mass for the dead, which begins with this word.^[5][7]
3. (music) A musical setting of the mass for the dead, a requiem: le Requiem de Mozart.^[3][10][4]
4. (familiar, dated) Face de requiem: a sad, drawn face.^[5]

Related words

• coi
• quiétude
• Latin requiēs

Usage notes

The name of the shark, requin, was spelled requiem in 1695 by association with this word, which gave Huet his explanation of it: once the shark has seized a man, nothing remains but to sing the Requiem for him.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)