huguenot

See also: Huguenot

French

Etymology

Usually derived from Middle French eiguenot, eyguenotz (“Swiss confederate; kind of soldier”), from German Eidgenosse (“confederate; Swiss person”), from Eid (“oath”) + Genosse (“companion”). It would then appear that the singular in -t is a French backformation from the plural, although it has also been compared to the Dutch eedgenoot (eed + genoot).

An alternate theory considers it a diminutive of Hugues (“Hugh”). The theory states that the term was originally used by Savoyard Roman Catholic supporters of the ruling Savoy dynasty as a derogatory designation (later embraced by Geneva republicans and by French Calvinists), with a meaning similar to "little Hughey", after the surname of Geneva burgomaster Besançon Hugues, who (though a Catholic himself) supported and participated in the rebellion against the rule of the Savoy dynasty, which led to the independence of Geneva in 1526.

See Huguenot on Wikipedia for more.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /yɡ.no/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /yɡ.nɔ/ (older, now chiefly Belgium)
• Rhymes: -o, -ɔ

Adjective

huguenot (feminine huguenote, masculine plural huguenots, feminine plural huguenotes)

1. Huguenot

Noun

huguenot m (plural huguenots)

1. Huguenot

Derived terms

• huguenoterie
• huguenotique
• huguenotisme

Descendants

• → Spanish: hugonote

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• Brachet, A., An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language [Crowned by the French Academy], translated by G.W. Kitchin, 3rd ed., Oxford, 1882.

Further reading

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