pitié French · revision 16743

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (pietét)|origins=la pius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pi.tje/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pitié''' ''f'' (plural pitiés)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''pietét'' (1050), ''pitet'' (1080), ''pité''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|pitet]], [[inh|la|pietās|t=dutiful respect towards the gods, parents, country]] from [[m|la|pius|t=dutiful, pious]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|8, 438b)^(Wiktionary) Under the Empire the Latin word came to mean the emperor's clemency, then in Christian Latin compassion, kindness, charity, Bloch and Wartburg note a similar use already in Suetonius.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The learned borrowing of the same word is [[piété]], its doublet.^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|pietà]], [[oc|pietat]], [[es|piedad]] and [[pt|piedade]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''pietét'' for compassion; the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''Cel nen i a qui de pitet ne plurt'' “there is none who does not weep for pity”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old French also used it for distress or suffering, and for piety.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Avoir pitié de'' is in the ''Roland'', ''faire pitié'' in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1160), and ''c'est pitié de'' in Joinville (1306: ''grant pitié estoit d'oïr brere les gens'').^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The sense of compassion mixed with contempt appears in ''faire pitié'' (1640), ''regarder en pitié'' (Molière, 1666) and ''quelle pitié !'' (1729).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Par pitié !'' (1691, Racine) is used to beg.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Pietét'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Pitet'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Faire pitié'', Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1306 – ''Grant pitié estoit'', Joinville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1666 – ''Regarder en pitié'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1691 – ''Par pitié'', Racine.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|pity]], compassion: ''avoir pitié de quelqu'un'', ''faire pitié'', ''inspirer la pitié''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|mercy]]: ''sans pitié'', ''pitié !, par pitié !'', for pity's sake!^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Contemptuous pity: ''regarder quelqu'un en pitié'', ''quelle pitié !'', how pathetic!^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pitoyable]]

+ * [[impitoyable]]

+ * [[apitoyer]]

+ * [[pitance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piété]]

+ * [[pieux]]

+ * [[piteux]]

+ * [[la|pietās]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}