sympathique

Forms

sympathique (plural sympathiques)^[1] Middle French sympathic, replaced by sympathique in 1614.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French sympathie + -ique.^[2][4][5] sympathie is from Latin sympathia (“agreement, natural affinity”), from Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia, “fellow feeling”).^[5][1] The first form was sympathic (1599 in the TLFi, about 1590 in the Robert and Rey), refashioned in its present form in 1614.^[2][3][4] A form sympathétique is also found in Descartes in 1639.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sympathic was first a medical and physical term, “relating to the affinity between different bodies or elements”,^[2][3] and was used of remedies thought to act at a distance, as in poudre sympathique.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The idea of action at a distance survives in encre sympathique (1671), an ink that stays invisible until treated with a substance it is “in sympathy” with.^[3][2] In medicine the word was used from 1721 of what concerns the affinity between organs, and of diseases with two causes, a remote and a near one.^[2][3] From this came nerfs sympathiques (1762), nerf grand sympathique (1765) and le grand sympathique (1812), the nervous system that controls the body's organic life.^[3][2]

The psychological sense, “feeling or inspiring sympathy”, is recorded from 1850 in Nerval,^[2][3] and it led to the familiar sense “pleasant, agreeable, friendly”, said of people and then of situations and things.^[3] Its clipping sympa (1906) became very common in familiar speech.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1590 – Sympathic is recorded as a medical term.^[4][3]
• 1599 – L. Papon uses sympathic of the affinity between elements.^[2]
• 1614 – The form sympathique appears.^[4][3]
• 1653 – The adverb sympathiquement is recorded.^[3]
• 1671 – Encre sympathique “invisible ink” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1721 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux defines the medical sense.^[2]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie has nerf sympathique.^[2][6]
• 1850 – Nerval uses it for “inspiring sympathy”.^[2][3]
• 1906 – The clipping sympa appears.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pleasant, likeable, friendly: un voisin très sympathique, also of places and things.^[7][1][3]
2. (dated) Having an affinity with something else.^[7][6]
3. Encre sympathique: invisible ink, which shows only when treated with a reagent or heat.^[7][2]
4. (medicine) Ophtalmie sympathique: inflammation of the healthy eye after a serious injury to the other.^[7]
5. (physiology) Relating to the sympathetic nervous system: nerf sympathique.^[7][2]

Noun

1. Le sympathique, formerly le grand sympathique: the sympathetic nervous system.^[7][3]

Word family

• sympathiquement
• sympa

Related words

• sympathie
• sympathiser
• Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia)

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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert