sacrosaint

Forms

sacrosaint (feminine sacrosainte, masculine plural sacrosaints, feminine plural sacrosaintes)^[1] Also spelled sacro-saint, the form the Académie has recorded since 1878;^[2][3][4] sacrosaint is the spelling of the 1990 reform, though Fustel de Coulanges already wrote it in 1864.^[2][3][4] Older sacrosainct (1546) and sacré-saint (1491).^[2][5][6] Middle French sacrosaint, plural sacrossainz, and sacresaint.^[7][8]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sacrosanctus (“declared inviolable, sacred”), a word of law and religion for a person or thing whose sacred, inviolable character had been solemnly recognized.^[2][3] The Latin compound joins sacer (“sacred”) and sanctus (“holy, sanctified”);^[2][9][5] the TLFi takes the first part as an ablative of the adjective, while the Académie takes it as the ablative of sacrum (“religious act”).^[2][3] Tertullian also has the form sacersanctus.^[2] Picoche places it in the family of the Latin adjective for “sacred”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses sacrosainct in the Tiers Livre (1546), the TLFi's first record;^[2] the GLLF and the Grand Robert cite a half-French form sacré-saint from 1491.^[6][5] The Middle French dictionary has an earlier use in a translation of Roman history, of the tribunes of the plebs, whose persons were sacrosanct.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it meant “holy and sacred, worthy of veneration”, as in Montaigne's Ce nom sacro-sainct de la Mere vierge “this most holy name of the Virgin Mother”;^[9][5] Godefroy cites it of the Vestal virgins (1556) and of the sacro saincte Eglise romaine.^[11] This sense is now dated or rare, kept mainly in religious phrases.^[2][3]

From the 19th century it is mostly used with irony, of habits, rules or people that are respected beyond reason and that nobody may question;^[5][2] the GLLF dates this use to Larousse in 1876.^[6] The Académie already noted in 1932 that the word was hardly used except with a touch of irony.^[12]

Timeline

• 1491 – Sacré-saint is recorded.^[6][5]
• 1546 – Rabelais writes sacrosainct in the Tiers Livre.^[2]
• 16th century – Montaigne speaks of the nom sacro-sainct of the Virgin.^[9]
• 1876 – Larousse records the ironic sense.^[6]
• 1878 – The Académie admits sacro-saint.^[2]
• 1990 – The spelling reform recommends sacrosaint.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (dated, religion) Both holy and sacred, inviolable: la sacro-sainte Église romaine.^[2][3][13]
2. (ironic, familiar) Treated with excessive or absurd respect, not to be touched or questioned; intouchable, tabou: leurs sacro-saintes traditions.^[13][2][14]

Related words

• saint
• sacré
• Latin sacrosanctus
• English sacrosanct

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
4. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
8. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
11. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
12. ^ Académie française (1932–1935), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 8th ed., Paris: Hachette
13. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
14. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)