Etymologically
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sorcier

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Pronunciation

Forms

sorcier m (plural sorciers, feminine sorcière)[1] First attested in the feminine, Old French sorciere (about 1160), and in the masculine sorcier in 1283.[2][3] Old French also had the feminines sorcelière (12th century) and sorceresse (13th century).[3] Anglo-Norman spellings include sorcer, sorceor and sorceour.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sorcier, inherited from Late Latin sortiārius (“teller of lots, fortune-teller”), recorded in Hincmar of Reims (860) and, as sorcerius, in the Reichenau Glosses of the 8th century.[2][3][5][6] It is derived from Latin sors (“lot; drawing of lots; oracle; fate”), the source of sort;[2][3][7] Bloch and Wartburg and the TLFi base it on the plural sortēs.[7][2] The Late Latin word properly named the one who cast or told the lots.[8][3] The TLFi notes that until the end of the 15th century the notion was expressed by several competing words, among them devin, enchanteur and charmeur.[2]

Compare Old Occitan sortilhier, Spanish sortero and Italian sortiere.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1160 in the Roman d'Eneas, as sorciere, for a woman believed to have supernatural powers through a pact with the devil.[2][3] The masculine appears in Beaumanoir's Coutumes de Beauvaisis (1283): Li sorciers et les sorcieres si errent contre la foy “sorcerers and witches go astray from the faith”.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the word was used figuratively of what charms or bewitches: Ronsard speaks of yeus sorciers “bewitching eyes” (1555) and of verses that are les sorciers d'Amour (1578), and, from 1635 (Corneille) the masculine noun names someone who captivates others by skill or art, a literary use.[2][3] The feminine took the figurative sense of an old, ugly and spiteful woman: vieille sorcière is found in Larivey in 1579.[2][3]

The idea of more than ordinary skill lies behind several phrases: être sorcier comme une vache “to have no judgement” (1640, Oudin), now gone;[2][3] il ne faut pas être grand sorcier pour “it does not take a genius to” (1656, Molière; recorded by the Académie in 1694); and, of things, ce n'est pas sorcier “it is not difficult” (1898, Jules Renard).[2][3] Sorcière has also named animals of strange or threatening look, such as the moray eel (1842).[3] Chasse aux sorcières (about 1950–1955), translated from American English, is the persecution of political opponents.[3][9]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Sorcerius in the Reichenau Glosses.[3][2]
  • c. 1160 – Sorciere in the Roman d'Eneas.[2]
  • c. 1185 – Earliest Anglo-Norman record.[4]
  • 1283 – The masculine sorcier, in Beaumanoir.[2]
  • 1555 – Ronsard's yeus sorciers, the adjective “bewitching”.[2][3]
  • 1579 – Vieille sorcière of an ugly old woman, in Larivey.[2]
  • 1635 – Corneille uses the masculine for someone who charms like a sorcerer.[2]
  • 1656 – Il ne fallait pas être grande sorcière pour, in Molière.[2]
  • 1898 – Ce n'est pas sorcier, in Jules Renard's Journal.[2]
  • c. 1950 – Chasse aux sorcières.[9][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sorcerer or witch (feminine sorcière): a person believed to have supernatural powers, especially to cast evil spells with the help of the devil or of evil forces.[2][9]
  2. A person who practises a traditional magic, acting on others through supernatural powers: consulter un sorcier.[9][3]
  3. Apprenti sorcier: someone who sets off forces they cannot control.[9]
  4. Chasse aux sorcières: a witch hunt, the persecution of political opponents.[9][3]
  5. (familiar) Vieille sorcière: an ugly, spiteful old woman.[9][3]
  6. (literary) Someone who captivates others by their skill or art.[3][2]
  7. Il ne faut pas être (grand) sorcier pour: it does not take great cleverness to.[9][2]

Adjective

  1. Ce n'est pas sorcier, cela n'a rien de sorcier: it is not difficult.[9][2]
  2. (literary) bewitching, enchanting.[3][2]

Word family

  • sorcellerie
  • ensorceler
  • ensorcellement
  • ensorceleur

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 o p q r s t u v w x 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 o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 120b
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert