Etymologically
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victime

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vik.tim/[1]

Forms

victime f (plural victimes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin victima (“animal offered in sacrifice, (Christian Latin) sacrifice”).[2][3][4][5][1][6] The origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has been compared with Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan, “to consecrate”).[3] Littré reports the old Latin guesses: from vinciō (“to bind”), because the victim was tied, from vincō (“to conquer”), or from vigeō (“to be strong”), since a “victima” was a large animal and a “hostia” a small one.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mistere du Viel Testament (about 1485) uses it once for the sacrifice itself, when Isaac asks Abraham for a sacrifice autrement que par victime si terrible “other than by so terrible a victim”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1495 it is a living creature offered to the gods or to God, and in Corneille's Polyeucte (1642) Christ, a sense it shared with hostie.[2][3] Ronsard (1552) used it figuratively for a lover's heart.[2] Montchrestien (1604) applied it to a person killed or wounded, victime de la guerre, the dominant sense today, and, from 1606–1625 it was a person who suffers from another's hatred or from misfortune: victimes de la pauvreté.[2][3]

Under the Revolution the victimes were those condemned by the revolutionary tribunals (1797), and after Thermidor cheveux à la victime and the bal des victimes recalled the look of the condemned.[3][8] Victimes du devoir honoured firemen and policemen killed on duty (1884–1885).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1485 – “Sacrifice”, Mistere du Viel Testament.[2]
  • 1495 – A sacrificial victim, Jean de Vignay.[2]
  • 1552 – Figurative use, Ronsard.[2]
  • 1604 – A person killed, Montchrestien.[2]
  • 1642 – Christ as victim, Corneille.[2]
  • 1797 – Victims of the revolutionary tribunals.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A victim: a person killed or injured in an accident, crime or disaster: les victimes de la route, il n'y a pas eu de victimes.[2][1]
  2. A person who suffers from another's actions or from events: victime d'une escroquerie, se poser en victime.[9][8]
  3. A creature offered in sacrifice: victimes humaines.[9][8]
  4. (Christianity) Christ as the redeeming sacrifice.[8][2]

Word family

  • victimologie

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 417a
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert