échange

Forms

échange m (plural échanges)^[1] Old French escange, eschange.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French échanger, Old French eschange from eschangier.^[2][4][5][1] The TLFi and Rey derive the verb from changer with the prefix é-;^[5] Bloch and Wartburg trace it instead to Vulgar Latin *excambiō, whose existence they see confirmed by Romanian schimba, Italian scambiare and Old Occitan escambiar.^[6] Wiktionary likewise gives this Vulgar Latin verb, from Latin ex and Late Latin cambiō.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As escange it is found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), in the sense of giving one thing and receiving another in return.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the first the word named an exchange of goods, or of persons treated as goods (prisoners, hostages).^[5] It became a term of law about 1283, in Beaumanoir, for a contract by which two owners give each other one property for another,^[7][5] and the phrases en échange and en échange de “in return (for)” date from the early 13th century.^[5] In 1704 it came to mean a mutual sending of information or documents, hence échange de vues and échange de coups.^[5][7]

Montesquieu used it in political economy in 1748, for trade between persons or nations;^[2][5] libre-échange (1855) translates English free trade.^[6] A figurative use is recorded in Scarron in 1653,^[2] and in 1865 Claude Bernard applied it in biology to the passage of substances between a cell and its surroundings.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Escange appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it as a law term.^[7][5]
• early 13th century – First record of en échange de.^[5]
• 1653 – Scarron uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1704 – The Trévoux dictionary records the sense “mutual communication”.^[7][5]
• 1748 – Montesquieu uses it in political economy.^[2]
• 1855 – Libre-échange is formed after English free trade.^[6]
• 1865 – Claude Bernard uses it in biology.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The giving of one thing for another, exchange or barter: un échange de timbres entre deux amis.^[8][9]
2. (law) A contract by which each party gives the other one thing for another.^[8][3]
3. (economics) Trade, commercial exchange, often in the plural: les échanges internationaux.^[8][9]
4. A mutual sending or giving of something: échange de lettres, échange de vues.^[9][5]
5. An arrangement by which pupils stay with a family abroad to learn its language.^[9]
6. (biology) The passage of substances between a cell or organism and its surroundings.^[2][5]
7. En échange (de): in return (for).^[5]

Related words

• échanger
• change
• changer
• libre-échange

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)