Etymologically
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seigneur

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɛ.ɲœʁ/[1]
  • IPA: /se.ɲœʁ/[1]

Forms

seigneur m (plural seigneurs, feminine seigneuresse or seigneuse)[1] Old French nominative sendra (842), soon replaced by sire; oblique senior (about 980), seignur, seignor (Chanson de Roland); seigneur from the 12th–13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French seignor, inherited from Latin seniōrem (“older; an elder”), the accusative of “senior”, comparative of senex (“old”).[2][3][5][4][6] Already in the 1st century “senior” was a term of respect, and in Christian Latin it named the head of a community, a bishop or a king; it took the place of dominus (“master”) for persons of high rank.[2][3][5] The Latin nominative gave Old French “sendra”, replaced by “sire”, and “sieur” too comes from this word.[2][5][3] Rey compares Irish sen (“old”) and Vedic “sánaḥ”.[3]

Cognate with Italian signore, Occitan senhor, Catalan senyor, Spanish señor and Portuguese senhor.[7][5][8] senior is a doublet, taken from English.[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Strasbourg Oaths (842) speak of Karlus meos sendra “Charles my lord”, the man on whom lands and persons depend.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts it was also a name for God: Nostre Senior (about 980), whence Notre-Seigneur for Christ, le jour du Seigneur and the interjection Seigneur ! (Mme de Sévigné, 1680).[2][3][9] Old French used it for a husband (about 1050), a master and an owner, and as a form of address, mon seigneur et maître “my husband” is a jest of Molière's (1662).[2][3]

It is a historical term for the feudal lord of lands and men, and a title kept until the end of the Ancien Régime, used constantly in classical tragedy (Seigneur, Corneille, 1642).[3][2] Grand seigneur (1250) came to mean a rich man, as in faire le grand seigneur (1690) and vivre en grand seigneur, le Grand Seigneur was the Turkish sultan (Montaigne, 1580).[3][9] À tout seigneur tout honneur is found in Noël du Fail (1547).[10]

Timeline

  • 842 – Sendra, Strasbourg Oaths.[2]
  • c. 980 – Nostre Senior, the Lord, Passion of Clermont.[9]
  • c. 1050 – Seignor, a lord; a husband, Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 12th century – Seigneurie and monseigneur.[5]
  • 1250 – Grand seigneur.[3]
  • 1349 – A tous seigneurs toutes honneurs, Machaut.[2]
  • 1580 – Le Grand Seigneur, Montaigne.[9]
  • 1642 – Seigneur as an address, Corneille.[2]
  • 1680 – The interjection Seigneur !.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A feudal lord, the holder of a fief: le seigneur et ses vassaux.[7][11][12]
  2. (literary) A master, ruler: seigneur et maître, (jocular) mon seigneur et maître, my husband.[7][12]
  3. (dated) A nobleman of high rank; a title or form of address: haut et puissant seigneur, Seigneur in classical tragedy.[13][3]
  4. Grand seigneur: a man who lives in style: vivre en grand seigneur.[3][1]
  5. Le Seigneur: the Lord, God; also Notre-Seigneur, Christ, and the exclamation Seigneur ! “Good Lord!”.[3][1]
  6. (Canada, historical) The holder of a seigneury.[1]

Word family

  • seigneurie
  • seigneurial
  • monseigneur
  • seigneuriage
  • seigneuresse
  • sire
  • sieur
  • monsieur
  • senior
  • sénile

Usage notes

À tout seigneur tout honneur “honour to whom honour is due” is the usual form of the proverb from 1606, Machaut has a tous seigneurs toutes honneurs (1349).[2][10]

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 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 i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 448b
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette