Etymologically
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vision

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Pronunciation

Forms

vision f (plural visions)[1] Old French visiun (about 1120); vision from the end of the 12th century.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vīsiō (“action of seeing; what is seen”),[3][4][5] from vīsum, the supine of videō (“to see”).[6][2] In Latin it also meant an image of things and, figuratively, a conception or idea, and in Late Latin law a point of view.[3] It is one of the two Latin action nouns of the verb, the other being vīsus, the source of visage.[3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “vain image” was taken before the sense “action of seeing”, which the technical languages borrowed from the 16th century.[7]

Cognate with Old Occitan visio, Spanish visión and Italian visione.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Psalter (about 1120) visiun is a perception of a supernatural reality.[4][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In religious use the word soon named the supernatural thing that appears (about 1190); in Old French it also meant an opinion (about 1150) and the mental image of something real (about 1170).[3] In the Middle Ages the sense “dream, apparition” was also expressed by avision, after aviser.[7] Jean de Meun uses it about 1265 for the action of seeing, and Ambroise Paré about 1560 for the physiological process of sight.[4][3][2] Theology spoke of the vision of God (1515, Jean Marot), whence vision béatifique (1657).[3]

From Calvin (1541) a vision is also an imaginary picture born of dreams or delirium, and by extension a wild idea, whence the familiar avoir des visions “to imagine things” (1680, Richelet).[3][4] In the 19th century it took the intellectual sense of a way of conceiving a complex whole (1834, Balzac), as in vision d'ensemble;[3][2] vision du monde follows German Weltanschauung.[3] In the cinema, première vision is a film's first public showing (1919).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Visiun, a supernatural perception, in the Psalter.[2][3]
  • c. 1170 – Something seen, in the Livre des Rois.[4]
  • c. 1265 – Jean de Meun uses it for the action of seeing.[3][2]
  • 1515 – The vision of God in theology.[3][4]
  • 1541 – Calvin's visions et songes: imaginary pictures.[3]
  • c. 1560 – Paré uses it for the physiology of sight.[3][4]
  • c. 1610 – The derivative visionnaire.[3]
  • 1680 – Richelet records avoir des visions “to have fancies”.[4]
  • 1834 – Balzac uses it for a way of seeing things.[2][3]
  • 1863 – Vision binoculaire in Littré.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (physiology) sight, the perception of the outside world by the eyes, and the process by which light gives rise to visual sensations.[9][10]
  2. The action of seeing or looking at something.[10]
  3. A way of seeing or conceiving something complex: vision du monde, vision d'ensemble.[10][9][3]
  4. A mental image that forces itself on the mind; an imaginary picture.[10][4]
  5. A supernatural apparition or revelation.[4][3]
  6. Avoir des visions (familiar): to imagine things, talk nonsense.[3][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 525b
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)