repertoire

Etymology

It is borrowed from French répertoire,^[2][3][4][5] recorded in Middle French from 1468 in the sense "index, list, inventory",^[2] which is from Late Latin repertōrium (“inventory, catalogue”);^[4][5][3] the OED treats the Latin noun as classical, of the 2nd or 3rd century AD.^[2] It is formed from the past participial stem of reperiō (“to find, discover, invent”) and the suffix -ōrium;^[2] the verb is formed from re- and pariō (“to produce, bring forth”).^[2][3][5] The same Latin noun had earlier given English repertory, of which repertoire is a doublet.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An index or catalogue: about 1626, in Scots, in H. Bisset's Rolment of Courtis; this sense is rare and obsolete.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The modern word was taken again from French, where the theatrical sense, the stock of plays a company can perform, is recorded from 1769.^[2] In English it is recorded from 1819 for the stock of dramatic or musical pieces that a company or performer has ready to play;^[2][6] Barnhart and Etymonline date it from 1847.^[4][5] From 1844 it was extended to any stock of skills, techniques or typical features,^[2] as in a comedian's repertoire of jokes.^[7][6] In English the borrowing was at first written répertoire, with the accent.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1626 – in Scots, an index or catalogue (obsolete).^[2]
• 1819 – the stock of pieces a company or performer can perform.^[2][6]
• 1844 – a stock or range of skills or techniques.^[2]
• 1847 – the stock of plays or songs a performer is ready to perform (Barnhart, Etymonline).^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. All the plays, pieces, songs or roles that a company or performer has prepared and can perform: a pianist with a narrow repertoire.^[7][6][2]
2. The whole range of skills, techniques or devices that a person or group has: her repertoire of excuses.^[7][6][2]
3. in repertoire: of a company, performing several works in the same venue on different evenings over a period.^[7]

Related words

• repertory
• parent

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press