splendide

Forms

splendide (plural splendides)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin splendidus (“shining, brilliant, magnificent”), borrowed in 1491.^[2][3][4] The Latin adjective, used both literally and figuratively, is derived from splendeō (“to shine, glitter”).^[3][4][5] Rey calls the origin of this verb obscure.^[3] Picoche places the word in the learned family of splendeur and resplendir.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in a 1491 translation of Orosius, speaks of splendides lucernes, “splendid lamps”.^[2] From the start the adjective described whatever has brilliance or magnificence, in a concrete and a figurative sense at once.^[3]

Semantic evolution

About 1590 Montaigne applied it to a person who spends lavishly, as when he advises being splendide en meubles et ustensiles, “lavish in furniture and utensils”.^[2][7] The literal sense “shining with a great light” is recorded from the end of the 16th century, in Agrippa d'Aubigné;^[3][5] Rey considers it no longer current, though the TLFi and the Petit Robert still describe a bright sun or a clear day as splendide.^[3][2][8]

From 1834, like splendeur, it came to mean simply “very beautiful”, the commonest sense today; it is sometimes used ironically of an error.^[3][5] The derived adverb splendidement dates from the early 16th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1491 – First recorded, in a translation of Orosius.^[2][3]
• Early 16th century – The adverb splendidement appears.^[3]
• c. 1590 – Montaigne uses it of a person who spends lavishly.^[2]
• Late 16th century – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses it for what shines with a vivid light.^[3][5]
• 1834 – Musset uses it in the sense “very beautiful”.^[5][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Shining with great brilliance, brightly lit: un ciel splendide.^[2][8]
2. Magnificent, sumptuous, lavish: une réception splendide.^[8][7]
3. Of striking beauty, superb: une vue splendide sur la mer.^[8][9]
4. (ironic) Glaring, said of a blunder.^[3]

Word family

• splendidement

Related words

• splendeur
• resplendir
• Latin splendidus

Usage notes

The Petit Robert records splendide isolement for the policy of Britain keeping apart from alliances.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)