# abbé
## English
### Alternative forms

* abbe

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /æˈbeɪ/, /ˈæb.eɪ/
* Rhymes: -eɪ

### Noun

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

#### Related terms

* abbacy; more at abbot § Related terms

#### Translations
### References

* 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.

### Anagrams

* Babe, babe

## French
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /a.be/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

abbé m (plural abbés, feminine abbesse)
* an abbot, the head of an abbey
* (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)

#### Antonyms

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

#### Related terms

* abbatial
* abbatiale
* abbaye
* abbesse

#### Descendants

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

### Further reading

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

## Hungarian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɒbːeː]
* Hyphenation: ab‧bé
* Rhymes: -beː

### Noun

abbé (plural abbék)
* 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)
* (rare) abbot (superior or head of an abbey or monastery)
    Synonym: apát

#### Derived terms

* abbéság

### References

* ↑ Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN

### Further reading

* 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).

## Norman
### Etymology

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

### Noun

abbé m (plural abbés)
* (Jersey) abbot

#### Coordinate terms

* abbêsse (“abbess”)

#### Related terms

* abbaye (“abbey”)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Alternative forms

* abbed

### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aˈbɛ/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛ
* Hyphenation: a‧bbé

### Noun

abbé m (definite singular abbéen or abbeen, indefinite plural abbéer or abbeer, definite plural abbéene or abbeene)
* (Christianity) an abbé (a French abbot, the (male) head of an abbey)
* an abbé (an honorific title for a member of the French clergy)

### References

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

### Anagrams

* babe, ebba

## Slovak
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈabeː]

### Noun

abbé m pers
* abbot

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “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

## Swedish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French abbé (“abbot”)

### Pronunciation

* Rhymes: -eː

### Noun

abbé c
* an abbot

#### Declension
### Further reading

* abbé in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* Abbe
* Ebba