spoliation

Forms

spoliation f (plural spoliations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spoliātiō (“plundering, robbing”), a derivative of spoliō (“to plunder, strip”).^[2][3][4][1] Rey groups it with spoliateur as learned words taken in the 15th century from derivatives of the supine of the Latin verb.^[5] Picoche places it in the family of spolium (“hide stripped from an animal, spoils”), beside the inherited dépouiller from dēspoliō.^[6] Anglo-Norman already had spoliacion from about 1292.^[7]

Littré compares Old Occitan expoliatio and Italian spogliagione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Olivier de La Haye's poem on the great plague of 1348, dated 1425, in the sense of dispossessing someone by force.^[2][3] In Anglo-Norman the word meant an illegal and violent seizure, and also a suit brought by one holder of a church benefice against another who held it by a doubtful title.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the general sense of stripping someone of property by violence or trickery, and its result.^[2][5] In the 16th century Bonivard's chronicle of Geneva uses it of a church benefice taken over at its holder's supposed death.^[8] Later it gained narrower uses: in administration, the theft of the valuables in a letter; in law, the procès en spoliation brought by the victim to recover the property; and in church history, the confiscation of the Church's goods by the secular power and the stripping of monuments.^[2][8] It is now a learned or literary word.^[9][10]

Timeline

• c. 1292 – Anglo-Norman spoliacion “illegal seizure” is recorded.^[7]
• 1425 – First French record, in Olivier de La Haye's poem on the plague of 1348.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Bonivard's chronicle of Geneva uses it of a benefice.^[8]
• 1842 – Balzac writes of a procès en spoliation.^[2]
• 1873 – Littré records the sense “theft of the valuables in a letter”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (formal) The act of dispossessing someone by force or fraud, and its result.^[2][9][10]
2. (administration) The removal of the valuables contained in a letter.^[2][8]
3. (law) Procès en spoliation: an action brought by the victim against the spoiler to recover the property or have a right recognized.^[2]
4. (church history) The confiscation of the Church's property by the secular power, and the stripping of monuments.^[2][8]

Related words

• spolier
• spoliateur
• dépouiller
• dépouille
• Latin spolium
• English spoliation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)