Etymologically
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sacré

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sa.kʁe/[1]

Forms

sacré (feminine sacrée, masculine plural sacrés, feminine plural sacrées)[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle, used as an adjective, of sacrer “to consecrate”,[2][3][4] itself taken in 1138 from Latin sacrō (“to consecrate to a deity; to make sacred”), from sacer (“sacred; accursed”).[5] The participle soon came to be felt as a translation of the Latin adjective, which the Church made familiar;[3][4] an adjective sacre taken straight from Latin was used from the late 15th to the mid-16th century.[5][3]

The Latin adjective named what cannot be touched without defiling or being defiled, hence its double meaning “sacred” and “accursed”.[2][5] Rey links it with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sak-, also seen in sanctus, the source of saint.[5] Its use in swearing may owe something to the attraction of a noun sacre “ruffian, brigand”, as Gougenheim proposed.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in pain sacré, “consecrated bread”, about 1130,[5] and in eve sacree, the water of the baptismal font, in the Chronique des ducs de Normandie (1175).[2]

Semantic evolution

Used alone (about 1200) it meant “consecrated to God”, then, more broadly, belonging to a forbidden and inviolable realm opposed to the profane.[5] It entered many religious phrases: vases sacrés (1550), l'Écriture sacrée (1564, Rabelais) and livres sacrés (1690).[5][2] In old medicine mal sacré was scrofula (1564), later epilepsy (1793), and feu sacré erysipelas (1611).[5] La sacrée majesté royale appears in Gringore (1498–1515), and the noun le sacré in 1790.[2]

From the 18th century sacré served in oaths (sacré nom, 1790–1840),[2] and in 1790 Le Père Duchesne used it before a noun for “damned, cursed”; with an admiring nuance it is recorded in 1866 (Delvau).[2] In Quebec the verb sacrer “to swear” is still in everyday use, and sacrer le camp “to clear off” was noted in 1894.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – Pain sacré.[5]
  • 1138 – The verb sacrer.[5]
  • 1175 – Eve sacree, baptismal water.[2]
  • c. 1220 – Virge sacree (Gautier de Coinci).[2]
  • 1550 – Vases sacrés.[5]
  • 1564 – Écriture sacrée (Rabelais).[2]
  • 1790 – The noun le sacré, sacré “damned” in Le Père Duchesne.[2]
  • 1866 – Sacré before a noun, with admiration.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sacred, holy: belonging to a separate, inviolable realm, as opposed to the profane: feu sacré, livres sacrés.[4][1]
  2. Religious, used in worship: vases sacrés, musique sacrée.[4][1]
  3. Inviolable, deserving absolute respect; very important.[4][1]
  4. (familiar, before the noun) Damned, hell of a; also admiring, a real…[1][2]

Noun

  1. Le sacré: that which is sacred, the realm of the sacred.[2][4]

Word family

  • sacrément

Usage notes

A separate adjective sacré “sacral”, used in anatomy (vertèbres sacrées, nerfs sacrés), was formed on sacrum and is recorded about 1560 in Ambroise Paré.[3][4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert