Etymologically
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romantique

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁo.mɑ̃.tik/[1]

Forms

romantique (plural romantiques)[1]

Etymology

In its first senses it is borrowed from English romantic (recorded from 1650–1654), which describes what belongs to the romance and appeals to the imagination;[2][3][4][5][6] the English word was formed on romant, a variant of Old French “romanz” (see roman).[4][3] Rey allows that it may have been formed directly on Neo-Latin “romanticus”, but Bloch and Wartburg say the 15th-century “romanticus” rests on a misreading.[3][4] Wiktionary instead describes the adjective as formed in French from “romanz” + “-ique”, with only the noun from English.[1]

The literary sense, as opposed to “classical”, comes from German romantisch (from 1695–1698, itself from English), which the Swiss critic Breitinger applied to literature in 1740 and A. W. Schlegel opposed to “klassisch”.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A 1675 reply to Sorbière's account of his journey to England uses it of words, “belonging to works of imagination, in the style of romances”; it is used of a person in 1694.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

This first sense, “fanciful, like a romance”, gave way to romanesque, though Littré still records the two as synonyms.[3][7] In the 18th century the word was taken up for sites and landscapes that move the feelings as descriptions in novels do: J. Leblanc wrote in 1745 that the English gave their gardens an air they called romantic, Le Tourneur used romantique in his Shakespeare (1776), and Rousseau's Rêveries (1781) launched it, still hesitating between romantique and romanesque.[3][4][2]

A second borrowing, from German, gave the literary sense “inspired by chivalry and medieval Christianity” (1804), opposed to classique after Schlegel (French version 1807) and Mme de Staël's De l'Allemagne (1810); Sismondi spoke of the école romantique and of les romantiques in 1813.[3][2][8] The quarrel of the classics and the romantics was applied to French literature between 1820 and 1830, whence romantisme (1823), which replaced romanticisme (1819).[4] Today the adjective also describes a sentimental, dreamy, idealistic person or mood.[9][8]

Timeline

  • 1675 – Of words, “fanciful”.[2]
  • 1694 – Of a person.[2]
  • 1745 – The English romantic quoted for gardens.[4]
  • 1776 – Of landscapes, in Le Tourneur.[2]
  • 1781 – In Rousseau's Rêveries.[3]
  • 1807 – Opposed to the classical tradition, in Schlegel.[2]
  • 1810 – In Mme de Staël's De l'Allemagne.[2]
  • 1813 – École romantique and les romantiques, in Sismondi.[2]
  • 1823 – Romantisme.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (literature, art) Romantic, of Romanticism: la poésie romantique, drame romantique.[8][9]
  2. Recalling the Romantic period or its tastes: coiffure romantique.[9][8]
  3. Sentimental, dreamy, idealistic: un adolescent romantique.[9][10]
  4. Picturesque and moving: un paysage romantique.[9][10]
  5. (dated) Fanciful, like a romance; romanesque.[11][7]

Noun

  1. A Romantic (writer, artist); a romantic person: les classiques et les romantiques.[9][8]

Word family

  • romantiquement
  • romantisme

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 105b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse