Vocabulary
Several misleading false cognates (faux amis) exist in French and English word definitions, which can confuse discussions of religion and cults:
- The French noun culte means any "(religious) worship", or, in a legal context, "religion" taken in a broad sense. The phrase association cultuelle (quite distinct from association culturelle, association promoting culture) thus refers to an organisation that supports religious worship, not to a "cult" in the often derogatory sense found in the English language.
- The French noun secte can have the meaning of the English "sect". However, in general parlance it has the derogatory meaning of the English usage of the word "cult".
- The adjective sectaire ("sectarian") almost always has a derogatory meaning: it designates people or institutions with a narrow-minded outlook on the world, who exclude other points of view.
Read more about this topic: About-Picard Law
Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:
“One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“[T]here is no breaking out of the intentional vocabulary by explaining its members in other terms.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)