victime French · revision 17043

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1485, Mystère du Viel Testament|origins=la victima}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vik.tim/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''victime''' ''f'' (plural victimes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|victima|t=animal offered in sacrifice, (Christian Latin) sacrifice]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 417a) The origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has been compared with [[got|𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽|tr=weihan|t=to consecrate]].^(DHLF 1992) Littré reports the old Latin guesses: from [[m|la|vinciō|t=to bind]], because the victim was tied, from [[m|la|vincō|t=to conquer]], or from [[m|la|vigeō|t=to be strong]], since a “victima” was a large animal and a “hostia” a small one.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Mistere du Viel Testament'' (about 1485) uses it once for the sacrifice itself, when Isaac asks Abraham for a sacrifice ''autrement que par victime si terrible'' “other than by so terrible a victim”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1495 it is a living creature offered to the gods or to God, and in Corneille's ''Polyeucte'' (1642) Christ, a sense it shared with [[hostie]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Ronsard (1552) used it figuratively for a lover's heart.^(TLFi) Montchrestien (1604) applied it to a person killed or wounded, ''victime de la guerre'', the dominant sense today, and, from 1606–1625 it was a person who suffers from another's hatred or from misfortune: ''victimes de la pauvreté''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Under the Revolution the ''victimes'' were those condemned by the revolutionary tribunals (1797), and after Thermidor ''cheveux à la victime'' and the ''bal des victimes'' recalled the look of the condemned.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Victimes du devoir'' honoured firemen and policemen killed on duty (1884–1885).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1485 – “Sacrifice”, ''Mistere du Viel Testament''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1495 – A sacrificial victim, Jean de Vignay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – Figurative use, Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1604 – A person killed, Montchrestien.^(TLFi)

+ * 1642 – Christ as victim, Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1797 – Victims of the revolutionary tribunals.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|victim]]: a person killed or injured in an accident, crime or disaster: ''les victimes de la route'', ''il n'y a pas eu de victimes''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who suffers from another's actions or from events: ''victime d'une escroquerie'', ''se poser en victime''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A creature offered in [[m|en|sacrifice]]: ''victimes humaines''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' Christ as the redeeming sacrifice.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[victimologie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hostie]]

+ * [[la|victima]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}