édition

Forms

édition f (plural éditions)^[1] Middle French edicion.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēditiō (“production, publication, edition”).^[2][5][6] The Latin noun is formed from ēditum, the past participle of ēdō (“to put forth, publish”).^[5][7][3] The date of the borrowing is disputed: Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF place it in the 13th century, Littré quotes it from the 14th, and the TLFi and Rey date it to the second third of the 16th century.^{[6][7][8][2][5]} The verb éditer (1784) and the noun éditeur (1732) were formed later to serve as its verb and agent noun.^[6]

Cognate with Italian edizione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Littré quotes H. de Mondeville in the 14th century, who remarks that lesser successors sometimes improve the editions of their greater predecessors.^[8] The TLFi's first example, from the second third of the 16th century, is translaté de l'edicion Theodoce, “translated from the edition of Theodoce”, of a version of a text.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant the establishing of a text for publication, a sense that has become technical.^[5] With the spread of printing it came to mean the reproduction of a text by a press: Richelet records première ou seconde édition d'un livre in 1679.^[2][5][9] By metonymy it named, from 1690, all the copies printed from one setting, then a single copy, and in the press each printing of a newspaper.^[5][7]

Figuratively, la nouvelle édition of something is its repetition.^[5] Used alone, the word came to cover the whole business of publishing books, then newspapers and similar products.^[5] In computing, after 1960, it was calqued on English edition for the output of results on screen or printer.^[5] The prefixed réédition is recorded in 1725.^[6]

Timeline

• 13th century – First record according to Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF.^[6][7]
• 14th century – H. de Mondeville writes of editions of earlier authors.^[8]
• Second third of the 16th century – Edicion of a version of a text.^[2]
• 1679 – Richelet records the sense “printing of a book”.^[2][9]
• 1690 – Furetière records it for the set of copies printed at one time.^[7][5]
• 1725 – Réédition appears.^[6]
• After 1960 – Used in computing after English edition.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The preparing of a text for publication, and the text so established: une édition critique.^[10][7]
2. The reproduction and distribution of a written, musical or artistic work by a publisher.^[10][2]
3. All the copies of a work printed at one time, or one such copy: une édition originale.^[10][5]
4. All the copies of a newspaper printed at one time: l'édition du soir.^[10]
5. Publishing as a trade or industry: une maison d'édition.^[10][1]
6. (computing) The output of results on screen or printer.^[10][5]
7. (figurative) A repetition of something already said or done.^[5][10]

Word family

• réédition

Related words

• éditer
• éditeur
• Latin ēditiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert