libertin French · revision 15752

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1468, Jean Miélot|origins=la līberō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /li.bɛʁ.tɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''libertin''' (feminine libertine, masculine plural libertins, feminine plural libertines)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|lībertīnus|t=freedman]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|5, 305a) a derivative of [[m|la|lībertus|t=freed]], formed from [[m|la|līberātus]], past participle of [[m|la|līberō|t=to free]], the source of [[libérer]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Its special sense comes from the Acts of the Apostles (6:9), which mention a “synagogue of the Libertines”, a Jewish sect whose nature is unknown^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989); Lefèvre d'Étaples translated the word as “libertins”, and when it was applied to religious sects, notably at Geneva, it was associated with [[liberté]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Miélot's translation of Cicero (1468) uses it in Roman law for a freedman.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century ''libertins'' were the members of the Jewish sect of the Acts (1525), of a heretical sect of northern France and the Low Countries (1542), and of the party that opposed Calvin at Geneva (1544).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From there (before 1555) a ''libertin'' was someone who threw off religion, a freethinker, at first as an insult.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The adjective (1568) first meant “independent, hating constraint”, and then “undisciplined”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ In the 17th century the libertine became less a speculative unbeliever than a practical Epicurean given to debauchery (1625^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007); Molière 1662), and in the 18th century a literary type, from Crébillon to Laclos.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Libertinage'' (1603) followed the same course.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1468 – A freedman, in Roman law (Miélot).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1525 – Members of a Jewish sect (Lefèvre d'Étaples).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1544 – Opponents of Calvin at Geneva.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * before 1555 – A freethinker.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1568 – Adjective, “independent”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1603 – ''Libertinage''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1625 – Given to debauchery.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1662 – Dissolute (Molière, ''L'École des femmes'').^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Given to the pleasures of the flesh; [[m|en|libertine]], [[m|en|dissolute]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary, dated)'' Freethinking, irreligious.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A libertine, a [[m|en|rake]]^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary); ''(history)'' a [[m|en|freethinker]] of the 17th century.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Roman history)'' A [[m|en|freedman]].^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[libertinage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[liberté]]

+ * [[libérer]]

+ * [[la|lībertīnus]]

+ * [[en|libertine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}