écrit

Forms

écrit (feminine écrite, masculine plural écrits, feminine plural écrites)^[1] Old French escrit, escript.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French escrit, inherited from Latin scrīptus (“written”), the past participle of scrībō (“to write”).^[1][3] In Old French it was the past participle of the verb that became écrire.^[4][3] The noun is the participle used as a noun;^[4][5][3] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF also allow that it continues the Latin neuter scrīptum (“a line, a writing”).^[4][5][3]

Cognate with Occitan escrit, Spanish escrito and Italian scritto.^[2] The English word script is a doublet from the same Latin word.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle is found in the Chanson de Roland (1080).^[3] As a noun, escrit is first recorded about 1155 in Wace, meaning something set down in writing: a document, a letter.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun first meant anything written: a record, a letter, written tradition and formerly Holy Scripture.^[6] It occurs in the phrase en écrit (about 1119), much rarer than par écrit (late 13th century), whence coucher par écrit (1538).^[6] From about 1190 it meant a work of the mind, also in the plural from the late 16th century.^[6]

In Old and Middle French it had legal senses, “will” (about 1200), “deed, agreement” (about 1240) and “formal order” (early 14th century).^[6] Since 1900 l'écrit has been the written part of an examination, as opposed to l'oral.^[6][3]

The adjective took the sense “decreed by Providence or fate” in the 16th century, as in c'était écrit.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1080 – The participle appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• c. 1119 – En escrit “in writing” is recorded.^[6]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses escrit as a noun.^[3][6]
• c. 1190 – It names a literary or learned work.^[6]
• late 13th century – Par écrit appears.^[6][3]
• 16th century – Écrit “fated” appears.^[7]
• 1538 – Coucher par écrit is recorded.^[6]
• 1900 – L'écrit names the written part of an examination.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. written, expressed in writing: une promesse écrite, la langue écrite.^[7][3]
2. Covered with writing: un cahier écrit jusqu'à la dernière page.^[3][2]
3. Decreed by fate or providence: c'était écrit.^[7][2]

Noun

1. A written document; in law, a writing recording a legal act.^[7][3]
2. A literary or scholarly work: les écrits de Rousseau.^[7][3]
3. The written part of an examination, as opposed to the oral: réussir l'écrit.^[7][8]
4. Par écrit: in writing.^[7][8]

Related words

• écrire
• écriture
• écriteau
• Latin scrībō

Usage notes

The proverb les paroles s'envolent, les écrits restent contrasts the spoken and the written word.^[7]

References

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