A Book About Words

by G. F. Graham

1. ‘Désagrément’ and ‘renaissance;’ mentioned by Père Bouhours as new words in 1675, two years after the death of Molière.

2. ‘Insidieux’ and ‘sécurité;’ established in the language by Malherbe.

3. ‘Sagacité;’ first found in the works of St.-Réal and Balzac.

4. The sixteenth century was remarkable for an irruption of diminutives, introduced chiefly by the influence of Ronsard and his school. Most of these are now lost; but two of them, viz. ‘historiette’ and ‘amourette,’ are retained.

5. It was Ménage who first used the word ‘prosateur.’

6. The negative words ‘intolérance,’ ‘inexpérimenter,’ ‘indévot,’ ‘irréligieux,’ and ‘impardonnable’ were subjects of much discussion about the end of the seventeenth century, and did not take root in the language till the eighteenth.

7. The Abbé St.-Pierre first used the word ‘bienfaisance.’

8. St.-Évremond discusses the word ‘vaste,’ remarking that it was then new, and not firmly established.

9. Ronsard first used ‘avidité,’ and ‘ode;’ and Baïf introduced ‘épigramme,’ ‘aigredoux,’ and ‘élégie.’