sacré French · revision 16993

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1130|origins=la sacer}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sa.kʁe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sacré''' (feminine sacrée, masculine plural sacrés, feminine plural sacrées)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle, used as an adjective, of [[sacrer]] “to consecrate”,^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) itself taken in 1138 from [[la|sacrō|t=to consecrate to a deity; to make sacred]], from [[m|la|sacer|t=sacred; accursed]].^(DHLF 1992) The participle soon came to be felt as a translation of the Latin adjective, which the Church made familiar;^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) an adjective [[m|frm|sacre]] taken straight from Latin was used from the late 15th to the mid-16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ The Latin adjective named what cannot be touched without defiling or being defiled, hence its double meaning “sacred” and “accursed”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey links it with an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*sak-]], also seen in [[m|la|sanctus]], the source of [[saint]].^(DHLF 1992) Its use in swearing may owe something to the attraction of a noun [[sacre]] “ruffian, brigand”, as Gougenheim proposed.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in ''pain sacré'', “consecrated bread”, about 1130,^(DHLF 1992) and in ''eve sacree'', the water of the baptismal font, in the ''Chronique des ducs de Normandie'' (1175).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used alone (about 1200) it meant “consecrated to God”, then, more broadly, belonging to a forbidden and inviolable realm opposed to the profane.^(DHLF 1992) It entered many religious phrases: ''vases sacrés'' (1550), ''l'Écriture sacrée'' (1564, Rabelais) and ''livres sacrés'' (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In old medicine ''mal sacré'' was scrofula (1564), later epilepsy (1793), and ''feu sacré'' erysipelas (1611).^(DHLF 1992) ''La sacrée majesté royale'' appears in Gringore (1498–1515), and the noun ''le sacré'' in 1790.^(TLFi)

+

+ From the 18th century ''sacré'' served in oaths (''sacré nom'', 1790–1840),^(TLFi) and in 1790 ''Le Père Duchesne'' used it before a noun for “damned, cursed”; with an admiring nuance it is recorded in 1866 (Delvau).^(TLFi) In Quebec the verb ''sacrer'' “to swear” is still in everyday use, and ''sacrer le camp'' “to clear off” was noted in 1894.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Pain sacré''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1138 – The verb ''sacrer''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1175 – ''Eve sacree'', baptismal water.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1220 – ''Virge sacree'' (Gautier de Coinci).^(TLFi)

+ * 1550 – ''Vases sacrés''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1564 – ''Écriture sacrée'' (Rabelais).^(TLFi)

+ * 1790 – The noun ''le sacré'', ''sacré'' “damned” in ''Le Père Duchesne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1866 – ''Sacré'' before a noun, with admiration.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|sacred|alt=Sacred]], [[m|en|holy]]: belonging to a separate, inviolable realm, as opposed to the [[profane]]: ''feu sacré'', ''livres sacrés''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Religious, used in worship: ''vases sacrés'', ''musique sacrée''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Inviolable, deserving absolute respect; very important.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar, before the noun)'' Damned, hell of a; also admiring, a real…^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le sacré'': that which is sacred, the realm of the sacred.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sacrément]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sacrer]]

+ * [[sacre]]

+ * [[consacrer]]

+ * [[saint]]

+ * [[la|sacer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate adjective ''sacré'' “sacral”, used in anatomy (''vertèbres sacrées'', ''nerfs sacrés''), was formed on [[sacrum]] and is recorded about 1560 in Ambroise Paré.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}