rhétorique

Forms

rhétorique (plural rhétoriques)^[1] Old French also retorique and rectorique (13th century).^[2][3][4] Middle French spellings include rethoricque and rettoricque.^[2]

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Latin rhētorica (“rhetoric”), from Ancient Greek ῥητορική (rhētorikḗ), short for ῥητορικὴ τέχνη (rhētorikḕ tékhnē, “the art of oratory”), the feminine of ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “of orators”), from ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr, “orator”).^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} The adjective, recorded from 1509, is borrowed from Latin rhētoricus (“rhetorical”).^[2][1]

Compare Old Occitan rethorica and Italian rettorica.^[7] The English word rhetoric comes from the Old French word and directly from Latin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1150 in the Roman de Thèbes, naming one of the liberal arts, the art of eloquence, shown as an allegorical figure on a work of art.^[2] The Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) lists it beside music, dialectic and grammar.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the word covered the whole art of expression, including verse: in the 15th century première rhétorique was the art of prose and seconde rhétorique the art of verse.^[3][2] From about 1405 couleurs de rhétorique were the ornaments of style, and fleurs de rhétorique is recorded from the end of the 15th century.^[2][3] About 1278 Jean de Meun used it for a book, Cicero's treatise on rhetoric.^[2][3]

From the end of the 14th century (Froissart) it meant skill and elegance in speaking, and in 1593 a person's own way of persuading.^[2] A pejorative sense, pompous or empty eloquence, is found from about 1360 and becomes common with Molière (1655) and Montesquieu (1748).^[3][5][2]

From 1591 the word named the school class where rhetoric was taught; in France it was renamed première in 1885, but in Belgium rhétorique (familiarly rhéto) is still the final year of secondary school.^[2][3][9] The adjective, first used in 1509, means “relating to rhetoric”.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – First recorded in the Roman de Thèbes.^[2]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas lists it among the liberal arts.^[2][5]
• 13th century – The variant rectorique is in use.^[3][7]
• 1269–1278 – Jean de Meun uses it for Cicero's treatise.^[2]
• c. 1360 – First pejorative use.^[3][5]
• c. 1405 – Couleurs de rethoricque “ornaments of style” appears.^[2]
• 1509 – The adjective is first recorded.^[2]
• 1591 – It names a school class.^[2][3]
• 1655 – Molière uses it for empty, bombastic speech.^[5][3]
• 1885 – In France the class is renamed première.^[3][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. rhetoric: the art of speaking and writing well and persuasively, the body of techniques of éloquence: figures de rhétorique.^[9][10][2]
2. A treatise on rhetoric: la Rhétorique d'Aristote.^[9][2]
3. (literary) A person's own means of expression and persuasion: il usa de toute sa rhétorique pour la convaincre.^[9]
4. (pejorative) Bombastic, declamatory or empty eloquence.^[9][10]
5. (historical) The top class of the old French secondary schools, now première.^[9][10]
6. (Belgium) The final year of secondary school.^[9][10][3]

Adjective

1. rhetorical: relating to rhetoric: des procédés rhétoriques.^[9][10][1]

Word family

• rhétoricien
• rhétoriqueur
• rhéto

Related words

• rhéteur
• éloquence
• Latin rhētorica
• Ancient Greek ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr)
• English rhetoric

Usage notes

Chambres de rhétorique were literary societies founded from the 14th century in Flanders and Artois.^[10][3] The spelling has the ⟨h⟩ after the ⟨r⟩.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b 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, 375a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)