Talk:Ci-devant

Definition

It says that the term describes aristocrats opposed to the Revolution. In fact, in the way the meaning is explained, it seems that it should describe all former artistocrats. What the French wiki article says appears to confirm this: L'expression ci-devant est utilisée pendant la Révolution française pour désigner un lieu, une personne, un régiment ayant auparavant bénéficié d'un privilège ou d'une marque liés à l'Ancien Régime ou à la religion. Anonymous44 (talk) 02:35, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

You are right: this seems to be an error in the article. "Ci-devant" just simply means "former" and does not necessarily mean that someone opposed the Revolution. There were actually ci-devant nobles who were part of the revolutionary government. Just some quick search for sourcing pulled up this: "Ci-devant, before or 'formerly, was used in the French Revolution of 1789 as a convenient word to indicate that the title uttered or written was no longer admitted as valid... the old French nobles were often referred to as les ci-devant." — Chao Garden 🌱 ~ say hello 02:55, 14 July 2026 (UTC)