symbolisme

Forms

symbolisme m (plural symbolismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French symbole + -isme.^[2][1][3][4] Littré derives it from symboliser instead.^[5]

symbole is from Ecclesiastical Latin symbolum, the Christian creed, a word that in classical Latin meant “sign, mark”.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mersenne used symbolismes once in a letter of 1635, in an unclear sense, perhaps “abstraction”.^[2][8] The word reappears in 1827, in Goulianof's essay on the hieroglyphs of Horapollo, for the use of symbols to represent things, and the same year for a system of symbols.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In philosophy it first named a method of explanation that finds symbols at the root of beliefs, ideas and historical events, then the representation of things by symbols (1831) and the theory of symbols (1842).^[8][9] From 1846 it also means the symbolic meaning of a particular thing, as of precious stones.^[2]

In 1886 it was applied to literature: in April of that year a Belgian chronicle spoke of symbolisme, décadence, mysticisme effréné, and on 18 September Moréas's manifesto in Le Figaro proposed the name Symbolisme for the new school.^[2][8][10] The movement, associated with Mallarmé and Verlaine, reacted against the Parnassians and the naturalists, and the word passed to painting and the other arts.^[6][8][11] Symboliste is recorded from 1885 in Moréas.^[8]

Psychoanalysis took it up in 1916 for the indirect, figurative representation of an unconscious idea or desire, and linguistics in 1958, when symbolisme phonétique followed the English phonetic symbolism used by Sapir in 1929.^[2]

Timeline

• 1635 – Isolated use by Mersenne.^[2]
• 1827 – Goulianof uses it for figuration by symbols.^[2][4]
• 1831 – Victor Hugo uses it for a system of symbols.^[9]
• 1842 – Recorded as a term of philosophy in the Académie's supplement.^[2]
• 1846 – Used for the symbolic meaning of a thing.^[2]
• 18 September 1886 – Moréas's literary manifesto in Le Figaro names le Symbolisme.^[2][9]
• 1916 – First use in psychoanalysis.^[2]
• 1958 – Symbolisme phonétique in linguistics.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. symbolism: the use of symbols, or a system of symbols proper to a religion, culture or body of thought.^[2][11][12]
2. The symbolic meaning of something: symbolisme de a figure or object.^[11][12]
3. (philosophy) The theory of symbols; the symbolic interpretation of historical events.^[11][8]
4. (literature, art) Symbolism, the French literary and artistic movement of the late 19th century that reacted against Parnassian poetry and naturalism.^[11][8][3]
5. (logic) A system of written signs combined by rules.^[9]
6. (psychoanalysis) The indirect, figurative representation of an unconscious idea, conflict or desire.^[2]
7. (linguistics) Symbolisme phonétique: sound symbolism.^[2]

Word family

• symboliste

Related words

• symbole
• symbolique
• symboliser
• Latin symbolum

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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 Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale