économiste

Forms

économiste m or f by sense (plural économistes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French économie + -iste.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The noun comes from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household”).^[1][6]

The TLF-Étym rules out a borrowing from English economist for the first French sense: the English word then meant “administrator, thrifty person”, and it was English that took the sense “physiocrat” from French, with Adam Smith in 1776.^[2] A short-lived French sense “administrator, thrifty person” (1779 to 1794), found mostly in translations from English, was a calque of the English word.^[2] The 20th-century sense “supporter of economism” is a calque of the Russian word for a supporter of economism.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in April 1764, in an anonymous letter to the king, for the physiocrats, the 18th-century writers on economic matters, whose ideas of liberty the letter warns against.^[2] The TLFi and the dictionaries that follow it give the marquis de Mirabeau's letter to Rousseau of 1767 as the first record.^[3][7][6][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 1760s and 1770s économistes, usually in the plural, were the members of the physiocratic school around Quesnay; by 1776 the name was resented as a charge of belonging to a sect.^[2][8] The general sense “specialist in political economy” arose by widening of this sense; the TLF-Étym finds it from 1790, while the TLFi and Rey date it to 1802, and Italian already had it in 1772.^[2][3][8] In the 20th century the word also came to mean a supporter of économisme.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1764 – An anonymous letter to the king names the économistes among the enemies of authority.^[2]
• 1767 – The marquis de Mirabeau uses it in a letter to Rousseau.^[2][3]
• 1776 – Adam Smith introduces English economist “physiocrat” after the French.^[2]
• 1779 – A translation of Chesterfield uses it for a careful administrator of money.^[2]
• 1790 – It is used for a specialist in political economy.^[2]
• 1802 – Flick's dictionary records the general sense.^[3][9]
• 1925 – A translation of Lenin uses it for a supporter of economism.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An economist, a specialist in political economy or economic science.^[10][11][7]
2. (history) In the 18th century, a name given to the physiocrats.^[11][2]
3. A supporter of économisme.^[11][8]

Adjective

1. Inspired by economism.^[11][2]

Related words

• économie
• économe
• économique
• économiser
• économisme
• physiocrate
• Latin oeconomia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)