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abbe

[a-bey, ab-ey; Fr. a-bey]

Origin

noun, plural ab·bés

[a-beyz, ab-eyz; Fr. a-bey] . (esp. in France)

a member of the secular clergy.

a title of respect for any ecclesiastic or clergyman.

Origin:
1520–30; < French, Middle French < Late Latin abbāte(m), accusative of abbās abbot

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Abbe is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

Abbe (ˈæbɪ, German ˈaːbə)

—n
	Ernst. 1840--1905, German physicist, noted for his work in optics and the microscope condenser known as the Abbe condenser

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

abbe

1520s, title given in France to "every one who wears an ecclesiastical dress," especially one having no assigned ecclesiastical duty, from Fr. abbé, from L.L. abbatem, accusative of abbas (see abbot).

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"The Abbe Goussault, a counsellor at High Court, writes [at the end of the 17th century]: "Familiarizing oneself with one's children, getting them to talk about all manner of things, treating them as sensible people and winning them over with sweetness, is an infallible secret for doing what one wants with them. . . . A few caresses, a few little presents, a few words of cordiality and trust make an impression on their minds, and they are few in number that resist these sweet and easy methods of making them persons of honour and probity.""

-Philippe Ariés

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