scandale

Forms

scandale m (plural scandales)^[1] Middle French escandale (about 1360) and scandalle (early 16th century); scandale is recorded by Cotgrave in 1611.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman scandele and scandle.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum (“stumbling block, cause of sin”).^[5][6][3][7] The Church Latin word is from Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon, “trap, snare”), which the Greek Bible used to translate a Hebrew word for “that which makes one stumble, an obstacle”.^[6][3][8] Rey relates the Greek word to Latin scandō (“to climb”).^[3]

The same Latin word, stressed on its first syllable, gave by inheritance the doublet esclandre.^[3][9][1] Cognate with Italian scandalo, Spanish escándalo and Old Occitan escandol.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a religious text of about 1150 it means an occasion of falling, that is, of sin.^[5] Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 11th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was first a word of the Church, in the Gospel sense of a cause of sin for oneself or others.^[6][3] With a weakened value it meant disorder or uproar (about 1360, in Froissart, as escandale), and ill repute (1404–10).^[5][3][2] In the 16th century it was also an affront, and the indignation caused by words or acts setting a bad example (1541, Calvin).^[5][3]

From 1657, in Pascal, it is the shocking effect of blameworthy acts on the public, whence faire scandale (1690).^[5][3][2] Before 1834 it came to mean a grave affair that stirs public opinion.^[3][2] English took scandal from the French word in the 1580s.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – First record, as a religious term for an occasion of sin.^[5]
• c. 1360 – Froissart uses escandale for disorder or uproar.^[3][2]
• 1404–1410 – It means ill repute.^[5]
• 1530 – Pierre de scandale and the sense “affront” appear.^[3]
• 1541 – Calvin uses it for public indignation.^[5][3]
• 1580s – English borrows it as scandal.^[10]
• 1657 – Pascal uses it for the shocking effect of a bad example.^[5][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records faire scandale.^[2][3]
• Before 1834 – It names a public affair that shocks opinion.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (religion) An occasion of sin: whatever leads others away from God;^[11][9] pierre de scandale a stumbling block.^[11][9]
2. (religion) A troubling, seemingly contradictory fact of faith: le scandale de la croix.^[11][5]
3. The shocking effect produced on the public by blameworthy acts; outrage: faire scandale to cause a stir.^[11][3]
4. A scandal: a grave affair that stirs public opinion.^[3][2]
5. A noisy quarrel or uproar, a scene.^[3][2]
6. Indignation caused by something shocking: c'est un scandale it is outrageous.^[2][5]

Related words

• esclandre
• scandaliser
• scander
• Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 281b
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert