romantique French · revision 16061

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1675|origins=en romantic}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁo.mɑ̃.tik/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''romantique''' (plural romantiques)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ In its first senses it is [[bor|en|romantic]] (recorded from 1650–1654), which describes what belongs to the romance and appeals to the imagination;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|18, 105b) the English word was formed on [[m|fro|romant]], a variant of Old French “romanz” (see [[roman]]).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Rey allows that it may have been formed directly on Neo-Latin “romanticus”, but Bloch and Wartburg say the 15th-century “romanticus” rests on a misreading.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary instead describes the adjective as formed in French from “romanz” + “-ique”, with only the noun from English.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The literary sense, as opposed to “classical”, comes from [[de|romantisch]] (from 1695–1698, itself from English), which the Swiss critic Breitinger applied to literature in 1740 and A. W. Schlegel opposed to “klassisch”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A 1675 reply to Sorbière's account of his journey to England uses it of words, “belonging to works of imagination, in the style of romances”; it is used of a person in 1694.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ This first sense, “fanciful, like a romance”, gave way to ''romanesque'', though Littré still records the two as synonyms.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) In the 18th century the word was taken up for sites and landscapes that move the feelings as descriptions in novels do: J. Leblanc wrote in 1745 that the English gave their gardens an air they called ''romantic'', Le Tourneur used ''romantique'' in his Shakespeare (1776), and Rousseau's ''Rêveries'' (1781) launched it, still hesitating between ''romantique'' and ''romanesque''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

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+ A second borrowing, from German, gave the literary sense “inspired by chivalry and medieval Christianity” (1804), opposed to ''classique'' after Schlegel (French version 1807) and Mme de Staël's ''De l'Allemagne'' (1810); Sismondi spoke of the ''école romantique'' and of ''les romantiques'' in 1813.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) The quarrel of the classics and the romantics was applied to French literature between 1820 and 1830, whence ''romantisme'' (1823), which replaced ''romanticisme'' (1819).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Today the adjective also describes a sentimental, dreamy, idealistic person or mood.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1675 – Of words, “fanciful”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – Of a person.^(TLFi)

+ * 1745 – The English ''romantic'' quoted for gardens.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1776 – Of landscapes, in Le Tourneur.^(TLFi)

+ * 1781 – In Rousseau's ''Rêveries''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1807 – Opposed to the classical tradition, in Schlegel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1810 – In Mme de Staël's ''De l'Allemagne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1813 – ''École romantique'' and ''les romantiques'', in Sismondi.^(TLFi)

+ * 1823 – ''Romantisme''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(literature, art)'' [[m|en|romantic|alt=Romantic]], of Romanticism: ''la poésie romantique'', ''drame romantique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Recalling the Romantic period or its tastes: ''coiffure romantique''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Sentimental, dreamy, idealistic: ''un adolescent romantique''.^(Larousse)^(Le Robert)

+ # Picturesque and moving: ''un paysage romantique''.^(Larousse)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(dated)'' Fanciful, like a romance; romanesque.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A Romantic (writer, artist); a romantic person: ''les classiques et les romantiques''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[romantiquement]]

+ * [[romantisme]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[roman]]

+ * [[romanesque]]

+ * [[en|romantic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}