opinion French · revision 38556

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200, Dialogues de saint Grégoire|origins=la opīnor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɔ.pi.njɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''opinion''' ''f'' (plural opinions)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|opīniō|t=conjecture, belief, idea one forms of a thing]],^(TLFi)^(FEW|7, 373a) a derivative of [[m|la|opīnor|t=to think, suppose]], which gave the verb [[opiner]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) In Latin the word rendered the philosophical sense of [[grc|δόξα|tr=dóxa]] and, for want of a noun from [[m|la|crēdō|t=to believe]], took the sense “belief”, often an imaginary or mistaken one; it also came to mean “reputation”, like [[m|la|fāma]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|opinio]], [[es|opinión]] and [[it|opinione]].^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest record, in the ''Dialogues'' of Saint Gregory translated about 1200, uses it for the feeling or view one has of something.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Brunetto Latini's ''Trésor'' (13th century) already sets ''opinions'' “of truth or of falsehood” against choice.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the word named a person's intellectual position in a given field (about 1283), and for a time a hypothesis or theory (1314), before it came to be kept out of science.^(DHLF 1992) The sense of a judgement of worth passed on someone or something dates from about 1265, with the phrases ''avoir mauvaise opinion'' (1580) and ''avoir bonne opinion de quelqu'un'' or ''de soi'' (1656, Molière).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In Middle French law it was the view a member gave in a deliberation (15th century).^(DHLF 1992)

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+ From the 16th century the word took a collective value, the ideas shared by a group (1563): ''opinion publique'' appears in Montaigne about 1590, and ''l'opinion'' used alone in 1762.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The 20th century added ''liberté d'opinion'' (1936) and ''délit d'opinion'' (1959).^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – First recorded in the ''Dialogues'' of Saint Gregory.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – Used of a judgement of worth on someone.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1314 – Found in the sense “hypothesis”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – Robert Estienne records it as a good or bad judgement on a person or thing.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1590 – ''Opinion publique'' in Montaigne's ''Essais''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1656 – ''Avoir bonne opinion de soi'' in Molière.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1762 – ''L'opinion'' used alone for public opinion.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1936 – ''Liberté d'opinion'' recorded.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|opinion]], a personal way of thinking or [[m|en|judgement]] on a question, which may be mistaken.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # A [[m|en|view]] given in a deliberation or a debate.^(Littré 1873)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Avoir bonne'' (or ''mauvaise'') ''opinion de'': to think well (or badly) of someone or something.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Opinions'' (plural): a person's convictions, especially political or religious ones.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''L'opinion'', ''l'opinion publique'': the ideas and attitudes that prevail in a society, [[m|en|public opinion]].^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[opiner]]

+ * [[opiniâtre]]

+ * [[inopiné]]

+ * [[la|opīniō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}