cabale French · revision 15747

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1532, Rabelais|origins=hbo קבלה}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka.bal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cabale''' ''f'' (plural cabales)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|hbo|קבלה|tr=qabbālā|t=tradition; something received]], a word of rabbinical Hebrew,^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Académie 9)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|2, 12b) derived from [[m|hbo|קבל|tr=qibbēl|t=to receive by tradition]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary has it pass through [[la-med|cabbala]].^(Wiktionary) The Hebrew word first meant any doctrinal tradition, as opposed to the written law; only in the 13th century did it name a particular esoteric system, whose thinkers were called kabbalists from the 14th.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais (1532) uses it in the broad sense “doctrine handed down by tradition”;^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) King Francis I had the Kabbalah expounded to him by a Franciscan as early as 1519.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cotgrave (1611) records the Jewish mystical interpretation of the Old Testament based on the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, now usually spelled ''kabbale''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) From the 16th century the word also meant an occult science claiming to communicate with supernatural beings (1546), a sense now dated.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ At the same time, in common use, a ''cabale'' was a secret plot against someone or something (1546), and especially, in the 17th century, a claque organized in a theatre to make a play or actor fail; by metonymy it is the group of plotters, as the Duchess of Bouillon's ''cabale'' against Racine.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) In the classical language it could also be a circle of friends with no bad sense.^(GLLF 1989) Derivatives include ''cabaliste'', ''cabalistique'' (1532) and ''cabaler'' (1617).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1519 – Francis I has the Kabbalah explained to him.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1532 – ''Cabale'', ''cabaliste'', ''cabalistique'' (Rabelais).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1546 – An occult science; a secret plot.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1611 – The Jewish mystical interpretation (Cotgrave).^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1617 – ''Cabaler''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1631 – A group of plotters (Richelieu).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' A secret plot or [[m|en|intrigue]] against someone; a [[m|en|cabal]], the group of people involved: ''monter une cabale''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A claque organized to make a play or performer fail.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(dated)'' An occult science claiming to deal with [[m|en|supernatural]] beings.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # The [[m|en|Kabbalah]] (usually spelled ''kabbale'').^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cabaler]]

+ * [[cabaleur]]

+ * [[cabaliste]]

+ * [[cabalistique]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kabbale]]

+ * [[en|cabal]]

+ * [[en|Kabbalah]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}