génie French · revision 16068

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1532, Rabelais|origins=la genus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒe.ni/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''génie''' ''m'' (plural génies)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is borrowed from [[la|genius|t=guardian spirit; natural bent]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|4, 105b) the spirit presiding over the conception and destiny of each person, from “genus” (see [[genre]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In imperial Latin “genius” came to mean “inclinations, talent”, doubling “ingenium” “innate disposition”, and French used it to render “ingenium”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré noted that the word is modern in French: an inherited form would have resembled Provençal “genh”.^(Littré 1873) The military sense “engineering” is due to [[ingénieur]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ [[en|genie]] (1650s) is from “génie”, used in the French “Arabian Nights” to render [[ar|جِنِّيّ|tr=jinnī]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais's ''Pantagruel'' (1532) has it in the sense “character, natural bent of mind”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ This sense lasted until the end of the 18th century (Mme de Staël's ''le génie de l'inaction'', 1789).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In 1637 Chapelain used it for an exceptional creative power, and, from 1686–1697 ''un génie'' was a person of genius (''ce grand et infatigable Genie'', of Richelieu, 1634).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) Corneille (1641) has it for the distinctive character of a people.^(TLFi)

+

+ Ronsard (1571–1578) revived the Latin ''génie'', a guardian spirit, whence ''bon'' and ''mauvais génie'' (Mme de Sévigné, 1689), the winged figures of sculpture (1704) and the magic genie of tales (Volney, 1791).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Under the influence of ''ingénieur'' it named the art of fortification (Vauban, before 1708), later the army's engineers, ''le génie civil'' (1845) and, after English ''engineering'', ''génie génétique''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Génial'' in its modern sense dates from 1837–1838.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1532 – “Natural bent”, in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1571 – A guardian spirit, in Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1637 – “Creative genius”, in Chapelain.^(TLFi)

+ * 1641 – The character of a people, in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1650s – English ''genie''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1697 – “A man of genius”, in Bayle.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1708 – Fortification, in Vauban.^(TLFi)

+ * 1791 – A magic genie, in Volney.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – ''Génie civil''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|genius|alt=Genius]], exceptional talent: ''un trait de génie'', ''avoir du génie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A genius (person): ''c'est un génie''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # Particular character, spirit: ''le génie de la langue française''.^(TLFi)^(Larousse)

+ # A [[m|en|genie]], spirit, ''bon, mauvais génie'': good, evil genius.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(military)'' The engineers, ''génie civil'': civil engineering, ''génie génétique'': genetic engineering.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[génial]]

+ * [[génial]]

+ * [[génialement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[genre]]

+ * [[ingénieur]]

+ * [[ingénieux]]

+ * [[la|genius]]

+ * [[en|genie]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}