congé

[prettygoodword]

congé (KON-zhey) - n., a leave-taking, a farewell; a formal or abrupt permission to depart; a formal bow (of departure).


See also congee, a close variant that's a synonym as a noun but can also be a verb meaning to take one's leave. To be honest, I've only ever seen these in historical novels ("Sir, you have your congé."), and as often as not without e instead of é. Adopted from French around 1700, while congee was adopted from Anglo-Norman several centuries earlier, both from Old French congié. from Latin commeātus, leave of absence, past participle of commeāre, to come and go, from com-, with/together (as an intensifier?) + meāre, to go.

And that's our week of -é words -- back to the usual mix next week.

---L.

Comments

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

by the way, THANK YOU, I had been trying to remember this word for a couple of days and it just kept sliding off my mental fingertips.

It's one of those high-18c-Alexander-Pope-salon words. So evocative.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

De nada.