vision French · revision 38554

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Psautier de Cambridge|origins=la videō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vi.zjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vision''' ''f'' (plural visions)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|visiun]] (about 1120); ''vision'' from the end of the 12th century.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|vīsiō|t=action of seeing; what is seen]],^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(FEW|14, 525b) from [[m|la|vīsum]], the supine of [[m|la|videō|t=to see]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) In Latin it also meant an image of things and, figuratively, a conception or idea, and in Late Latin law a point of view.^(DHLF 1992) It is one of the two Latin action nouns of the verb, the other being [[m|la|vīsus]], the source of [[visage]].^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “vain image” was taken before the sense “action of seeing”, which the technical languages borrowed from the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|visio]], [[es|visión]] and [[it|visione]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the Psalter (about 1120) ''visiun'' is a perception of a supernatural reality.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In religious use the word soon named the supernatural thing that appears (about 1190); in Old French it also meant an opinion (about 1150) and the mental image of something real (about 1170).^(DHLF 1992) In the Middle Ages the sense “dream, apparition” was also expressed by ''avision'', after ''aviser''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Jean de Meun uses it about 1265 for the action of seeing, and Ambroise Paré about 1560 for the physiological process of sight.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Theology spoke of the vision of God (1515, Jean Marot), whence ''vision béatifique'' (1657).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From Calvin (1541) a vision is also an imaginary picture born of dreams or delirium, and by extension a wild idea, whence the familiar ''avoir des visions'' “to imagine things” (1680, Richelet).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In the 19th century it took the intellectual sense of a way of conceiving a complex whole (1834, Balzac), as in ''vision d'ensemble'';^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''vision du monde'' follows German ''Weltanschauung''.^(DHLF 1992) In the cinema, ''première vision'' is a film's first public showing (1919).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Visiun'', a supernatural perception, in the Psalter.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – Something seen, in the ''Livre des Rois''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – Jean de Meun uses it for the action of seeing.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1515 – The vision of God in theology.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 1541 – Calvin's ''visions et songes'': imaginary pictures.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1560 – Paré uses it for the physiology of sight.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1610 – The derivative ''visionnaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1680 – Richelet records ''avoir des visions'' “to have fancies”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1834 – Balzac uses it for a way of seeing things.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1863 – ''Vision binoculaire'' in Littré.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(physiology)'' [[m|en|sight]], the perception of the outside world by the eyes, and the process by which light gives rise to visual sensations.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # The action of seeing or looking at something.^(Larousse)

+ # A way of seeing or conceiving something complex: ''vision du monde'', ''vision d'ensemble''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A mental image that forces itself on the mind; an imaginary picture.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # A supernatural [[m|en|apparition]] or revelation.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Avoir des visions'' ''(familiar)'': to imagine things, talk nonsense.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[visionnaire]]

+ * [[télévision]]

+ * [[visionner]]

+ * [[visionneuse]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[voir]]

+ * [[visage]]

+ * [[la|vīsiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}