abbé

• abbe

Unadapted borrowing from French abbé (“abbot”), from Latin abbās (“abbot”). Doublet of abbot.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /æˈbeɪ/, /ˈæb.eɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

abbé (plural abbés)

1. A low-ranking member of the Roman Catholic clergy in France who is not a member of a religious order, is not a priest, and can marry and inherit property; an honorific title for such a clergymember. [mid 16th century]

   Coordinate terms: canon, curate, deacon, vicar; abbot, priest, rector

   • 2011, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 15:

     At graduation [Pierre Simon] Laplace faced an anguishing dilemma. His master’s degree permitted him to take either the priestly vows of celibacy or the title of abbé, signifying a low-ranking clergyman who could marry and inherit property. Abbés did not have good reputations; Voltaire called them “that indefinable being which is neither ecclesiastic nor secular . . . young men, who are known for their debauchery.” An engraving of the period, “What Does the Abbé Think of It?” shows the clergyman peering appreciatively down a lady’s bosom as she dresses. Still, the elder Laplace wanted his son to become a clergyman. If Laplace had been willing to become an abbé, his father might have helped him financially, and Laplace could have combined church and science. A number of abbés supported themselves in science, the most famous being Jean Antoine Nollet, who demonstrated spectacular physics experiments to the paying public.

2. (obsolete) A French abbot, the (male) head of an abbey. [mid 16th century]

• abbacy; more at abbot § Related terms

• William Morris, editor (1969 (1971 printing)), “abbé”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 2.
• Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 2
• Christine A. Lindberg, editor (2002), “abbé”, in The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Spark Publishing, →ISBN, page 2.
• Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 2
• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abbé”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 3.

• Babe, babe

Inherited from Old French abé, borrowed from Latin abbātem, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶ (abbâ), from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father”). Compare English abbot.

• IPA^(key): /a.be/

• Audio:

  (file)

abbé m (plural abbés, feminine abbesse)

1. an abbot, the head of an abbey
2. (dated) a low-ranking member of the Roman Catholic clergy in France who is not a member of a religious order, is not a priest, and can marry and inherit property; an honorific title for such a clergymember

   Coordinate terms: chanoine, diacre, prêtre; père (title)

• (antonym(s) of “abbot”): abbesse (abbess) (female head of an abbey)

• abbatial
• abbatiale
• abbaye
• abbesse

• → English: abbé
• → German: Abbé
• → Norwegian Bokmål: abbé
• → Slovak: abbé
• → Swedish: abbé

• “abbé”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from French abbé (“abbot”), from Latin abbās (“abbot”),^[1] from Ancient Greek ἀββα, ἀββᾶς (abba, abbâs, “father; abbot”), from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father”). Doublet of apát.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒbːeː]
• Hyphenation: ab‧bé
• Rhymes: -beː

abbé (plural abbék)

1. abbé (member of the French clergy)
   • 1878, Ferenc Fiáth, Életem és élményeim, volume 1, Budapest: Tettey Nándor és Társa, page 157:

     Mert míg a középnemesség, szive minden költészetével ragaszkodott hazájához, nemzetiségéhez, szokásaihoz: addig főuraink legfölebb szánalommal néztek ezen törekvéseinkre; gyermekeiket otthon tanítatták német Hofmeisterek vagy franczia „abbék“ által.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (rare) abbot (superior or head of an abbey or monastery)

   Synonym: apát

• abbé in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

From Old French abé, borrowed from Latin abbās, abbātis (“abbot”).

abbé m (plural abbés)

1. (Jersey) abbot

• abbêsse (“abbess”)

• abbaye (“abbey”)

• abbed

From French abbé (“abbot; honorific given to priests”), from Old French [Term?], from Latin abbās, abbātem, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbâs), alternative form of ἀββα (abba, “father; title of respect given to abbots”) from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father, teacher, chief”), from Proto-Semitic *ʔabw- (“father”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-, ultimately an onomatopoeic nursery word. Doublet of abbed and abba.

• IPA^(key): /aˈbɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Hyphenation: a‧bbé

abbé m (definite singular abbéen or abbeen, indefinite plural abbéer or abbeer, definite plural abbéene or abbeene)

1. (Christianity) an abbé (a French abbot, the (male) head of an abbey)
2. an abbé (an honorific title for a member of the French clergy)

• “abbé” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “abbé” in Store norske leksikon

• babe, ebba

From the French abbé (“abbot”), from Latin abbās (“abbot”), from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbâs), ἀββα (abba), from Aramaic אבא (ʾabbāʾ, “father”). Doublet of opát.

• IPA^(key): [ˈabeː]

abbé m pers

1. abbot

• “abbé”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Borrowed from French abbé (“abbot”)

• Rhymes: -eː

abbé c

1. an abbot

• abbé in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• Abbe
• Ebba