What did “oblique” mean?
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“
Oblique.
Who is not fair, bad
”, we read among the various definitions given to this adjective in Pierre Richelet's Dictionnaire françois, published in 1680.
What is the origin of the word "oblique"?
In fact, in the previous century, in 1541, when Calvin no longer published in Latin but in French his masterpiece, Institution de la religion chrestienne, he was already wondering by using this adjective: "
What will it be, if the heart was perverse and oblique?
"Certainly, from the Latin
obliquus
meaning immediately"
from side
","
bias
"when the adjective is attested in French in 1353, in Baudouin Horoscope of Courtenay, it's as management deviating from the perpendicular it presents itself, with, moreover, an orthography, so to speak, phonetic: oblike. However, it will quickly take on a figurative meaning.
Read the fileSpelling, etymology, grammar ... All the nuances of the French language
Thus, in 1690, Furetière did not fail to
mention it
in a complete article: “
Oblique
”, he wrote, “
is figuratively said in Morality, indirect voyes, detours,
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