syncrétisme

Forms

syncrétisme m (plural syncrétismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek συγκρητισμός (sunkrētismós, “union of Cretans”), a Late Greek word, first recorded in French in 1611.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary describes it as a learned borrowing through New Latin syncretismus.^[1] The Greek noun is formed with σύν (sún, “with, together”) on κρητίζω (krētízō, “to act like a Cretan, to lie”), from Κρής (Krḗs, “Cretan”), the Cretans having a name in ancient Greece for being deceitful.^[3][6][7] The literal “union of Cretans” was understood as the alliance of two old opponents against a common enemy.^[3][4][2]

Littré instead connected the second part with κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to mix”),^[8] an explanation Etymonline also mentions beside the Cretan one.^[9] The English word syncretism (1610s) comes from the French word and directly from Modern Latin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave's French–English dictionary of 1611 records it in the Greek sense: the union of two former enemies against a third party.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the idea of opponents joining forces, the word passed into religion and philosophy: in 1687 it named an attempt to merge different cults or religious doctrines, and in 1765 the Encyclopédie used it of a synthesis of several philosophical doctrines.^[2][3] It is used above all of the religions and world-systems of Graeco-Roman and Eastern antiquity in the first centuries of the Christian era, and historians of religion also apply it to the 17th-century attempts to reconcile the Christian confessions.^[3]

Renan used it for a global, rather confused grasp of a whole (1890 in the TLFi, which dates the text by its publication, Rey dates it to 1848), and in 1909 the psychologist Claparède applied it to the undifferentiated perception that comes before the distinct perception of objects, especially in children.^[2][3] Linguists took it up in the 20th century for the merging of grammatical forms or functions (1933, Marouzeau).^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1611 – Cotgrave records it as “union of two former enemies against a third”.^[2][4]
• 1687 – First used of an attempt to merge religious doctrines.^[2][3]
• c. 1703 – Leibniz uses the derivative syncrétiste “partisan of syncretism”.^[2]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie applies it to philosophical doctrines.^[2][3]
• 1890 – Renan uses it for a global, confused grasp of a whole.^[2]
• 1909 – Claparède uses it in child psychology.^[2]
• 1933 – Marouzeau's lexicon records it as a term of linguistics.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (religion, philosophy) The fusion of different cults, religious beliefs or doctrines into one system.^[2][10]
2. (ethnology) The fusion of two different cultural or religious elements: le syncrétisme des cultes africains et chrétiens.^[10]
3. (psychology) A global and undifferentiated perception of a whole, before its parts are distinguished.^[2][10]
4. (linguistics) The merging of several grammatical forms or functions into one form.^[2][7]

Word family

• syncrétiste

Related words

• Ancient Greek συγκρητισμός (sunkrētismós)
• English syncretism

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 497a
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert