vicissitude

Forms

vicissitude f (plural vicissitudes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vicissitūdō (“alternation, exchange, passage from one state to another”),^[2][3][4][5] derived from vicis (“turn, succession”), the source of vice-.^[2][3][6] Cicero already used the Latin plural for the changes of fortune.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bersuire's translation of Livy (1364–1373) uses it for change by a succession of different things: la vissitude ou egal interpollation de seigneurir.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, change through a succession of different things, is now archaic.^[3] From Montaigne (1580) the word meant instability, a disposition to change, a common use in the classical period;^[3][2][6] Montaigne writes of la revolution et vicissitude de la fortune.^[3][2][6] In the plural, from Bossuet (1679), it named the happy and unhappy events that follow one another in a life.^[3][7]

From 1795 the plural meant above all the unhappy turns, the only common sense in modern French, though the idea of succession remains.^[3][2] Rey thinks this narrowing probably owes something to vice in the sense of a flaw.^[3] English took vicissitude from Old French in the mid-15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1364–1373 – Bersuire uses it in his translation of Livy.^[2]
• mid-15th century – English borrows vicissitude.^[8]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it for instability.^[3][7]
• 1679 – Bossuet uses the plural for the events of a life.^[3][7]
• 1795 – Genlis writes of les vicissitudes humaines, the misfortunes of life.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete or literary) change by a succession of different things.^[2][9]
2. (literary, in the plural) Successive changes, variations: les vicissitudes de la langue.^[9][2]
3. (in the plural) The good and bad events that follow one another in a life, the ups and downs.^[9][2]
4. (in the plural) Unhappy events, misfortunes, tribulations.^[9][2]

Related words

• vice-
• Latin vicis
• English vicissitude

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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. 14, 417a
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert