sculpteur

Forms

sculpteur m (plural sculpteurs, feminine sculptrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sculptor (“sculptor”), a Latin word of the imperial period,^[2][3][4][1] formed on sculptum, the supine of sculpō (“to carve”).^[2][4][5] The verb sculpter (1718) is a remaking of sculper (1694), itself borrowed from the Latin verb, after the noun and sculpture.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1400, in a document published by A. Thierry, meaning an artist who practises sculpture.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning of an artist who carves figures in hard material.^[3][2] For women the feminine sculptrice exists, but from the late 18th century French usage preferred femme sculpteur;^[3] the Petit Robert also records sculpteuse.^[7] In the 20th century it also became a technical term for a highly skilled stone-cutter who carves the most difficult pieces.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1380 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the first record.^[6]
• 1400 – First record in the TLFi, in a document published by A. Thierry.^[2]
• 16th century – Desportes and a document naming “Juste de Just, sculpteur en marbre du roy” use the word.^[5]
• 1694 – The verb sculper is recorded; it becomes sculpter in 1718.^[6]
• late 18th century – Femme sculpteur comes into use for a woman sculptor.^[3]
• 1964 – Larousse records the sense “highly qualified stone-cutter”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sculptor, an artist who practises sculpture: sculpteur sur bois.^[7][8][4]
2. (technical) A highly skilled stone-cutter who carves the most difficult pieces.^[4][8][3]

Related words

• sculpter
• sculpture
• Latin sculptor

Usage notes

The masculine is often used of women too (une femme sculpteur); the feminine sculptrice is also used, and sculpteuse is found.^[8][7][3] In the Middle Ages the craftsman was called an imagier.^[8][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)