respect

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁɛs.pɛ/^[1]

Forms

respect m (plural respects)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin respectus (“a looking back; regard, consideration; refuge”), the action noun of respiciō (“to look back; to take into account”), from re- (“back”) and speciō (“to look”) (see spectacle).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} répit “respite” is the inherited doublet, from the sense “recourse, refuge”.^[3][1][6]

The Latin word also gave Old Occitan respieit, Catalan respecte, Spanish respeto, Portuguese respeito and Italian rispetto.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1287 has a respect de in the sense “in consideration of”, the taking of something into account.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “regard, point of view, motive”, as in au respect de “with regard to, compared with” (16th century), went out of use at the end of the 17th century; it lives on in English respect, borrowed in the 14th century.^[3][4] In Middle French it also meant a due paid to churches (1374), such as le respect de S. Firmin at Amiens.^[3][6]

The modern senses grew out of the old one in the 16th century, a development peculiar to French and Old Occitan (1455): the feeling that leads one to treat someone with the regard due to age, rank or merit (before 1540, Amyot, 1559).^[2][3][4] It entered formulas of politeness: sauf votre respect (1636), sauf le respect que je vous dois (1690), avec le respect que je vous dois (1718), and the plural mes respects (1580).^[2][3][5] Respect humain, fear of others' judgement, is in Corneille (1651), and manquer de respect à une femme in Mme de Sévigné (1671).^[2][5] At the end of the 17th century it came to mean regard for a law or rule, an attitude of not infringing it (Bourdaloue).^[2]

Timeline

• 1287 – A respect de “in consideration of”.^[2]
• 1374 – A due paid to churches.^[3]
• before 1540 – “Deference”, in Roger de Collerye.^[2]
• 1580 – The plural respects, in Montaigne.^[2]
• 1636 – Sauf votre respect, in Monet.^[2]
• 1651 – Respect humain, in Corneille.^[2]
• 1671 – Manquer de respect à une femme, in Mme de Sévigné.^[5][3]
• late 17th century – Respect for a law, in Bourdaloue.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Respect, deference, esteem felt for someone: inspirer le respect, manquer de respect à quelqu'un.^[8][1]
2. (plural) Respects, marks of deference: présenter ses respects.^[2][3]
3. Regard for a rule, a law or a thing, the care not to infringe it: le respect des lois.^[2]
4. Respect humain: fear of what others will think.^[2]
5. Sauf votre respect, sauf le respect que je vous dois: with all due respect.^[2][3]
6. Tenir quelqu'un en respect: to keep someone at a distance, at bay.^[8]
7. (archaic) Au respect de: with regard to, compared with.^[8][3]

Word family

• respecter
• respectable
• respectueux
• irrespect

Related words

• répit
• spectacle
• Latin respectus
• English respect

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 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 d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert