écriture

Forms

écriture f (plural écritures)^[1] Old French escriture, also escripture and scripture.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French escriture, inherited from Latin scrīptūra (“writing, a written work”), formed on the supine of scrībō (“to write”).^[2][4][5][6] Its form is explained by its constant contact with written Latin.^[2][7] The Christian sense “Holy Scripture” follows the Ecclesiastical Latin use, probably modelled on Ancient Greek βίβλος (bíblos).^[7][3]

Cognate with Italian scrittura, Spanish escritura and Occitan escriptura.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, is sainte escriture, the Holy Scripture, the Christian Latin sense.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the Scriptures the word passed to written tradition and, in 1121–1134 in Philippe de Thaon, to what is written, books.^[2][5] The modern sense, the representation of speech and thought by signs, appears in the first half of the 12th century; from it came the kind of characters used by a writing system (1311) and a person's handwriting (1538).^[2][5]

From 1465 it also meant the art of writing, a writer's style.^[2][5] It became a legal term in 1549, and in the plural les écritures named a firm's accounts and correspondence from 1723.^[2][5] In the 19th century it extended to any system of graphic representation (l'écriture des sons, 1837), and écriture automatique (1920) named a technique of the Surrealists.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Sainte escriture in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon uses escripture for written texts.^[2]
• first half of the 12th century – Used for writing as a system of signs.^[2][5]
• 1311 – Used for a type of characters.^[2][3]
• 1465 – Used for the art of writing.^[2][5]
• 1549 – Estienne records it as a legal term.^[2][5]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records les écritures in bookkeeping.^[2][5]
• 1920 – Écriture automatique appears.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Writing, the representation of speech and thought by graphic signs: écriture alphabétique.^[9][2]
2. A script, a system of characters.^[9][2]
3. Handwriting.^[1][2]
4. The art or manner of writing; a writer's style.^[2][5]
5. L'Écriture, les Écritures: Scripture, the Bible.^[1][5]
6. (accounting, in the plural) Entries in the books, accounts: tenir les écritures.^[1][5]
7. (law) A written document with value as evidence;^[5] écritures: the papers in a lawsuit.^[5]

Related words

• écrire
• écrit
• scriptural
• Latin scrīptūra

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 l m n o p q r s t u 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 c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 339a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert