Dictionary

abbé en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈæb.eɪ/ (General-American)
• /æˈbeɪ/ (General-American)

Etymology

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

Meanings

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.
   • 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. 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:
2. (obsolete) A French abbot, the (male) head of an abbey.

Forms

Coordinates

canon · vicar · curate · rector · abbot · priest · deacon

Relateds

abbacy · more at abbot § Related terms

Translations (2)

nb abbé (French clergy) · nl abbé (French clergy)