éducation

Forms

éducation f (plural éducations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēducātiō (“bringing up of animals and plants, education, training of the mind”).^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is from ēducō (“to bring up, rear”).^[5][4][6]

The TLFi dates the borrowing to 1527, and gives Bloch and Wartburg's earlier date of 1495, in Jean de Vignay, in brackets.^[2][3] The verb éduquer is a later borrowing of the same Latin family.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Pierre Dassy's Peregrin (1527) it means the training or bringing up of a person.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the word names the means used to form and develop a human being, and it appears in phrases such as éducation nationale (18th century), which in the name of the ministry replaced Instruction publique, and éducation surveillée (1819).^[3] Éducation physique in the modern sense, close to gymnastics, is fairly recent, though Madame de Staël already wrote of éducation physique et morale in 1794.^[3][2]

By metonymy it came to mean knowledge of the customs of society, good manners: n'avoir nule éducation is in Richelet in 1679.^[2][3] Following another Latin sense it was used of rearing animals, first silkworms (1763),^[2][3][7] and in the 19th century of learning by experience, as in Flaubert's L'Éducation sentimentale (1869).^[3]

Timeline

• 1527 – First recorded, in Pierre Dassy, for the bringing up of a person.^[2]
• 1679 – Richelet records n'avoir nule éducation “to have no manners”.^[2]
• 1763 – Used of rearing silkworms.^[2][3]
• 1794 – Madame de Staël writes of éducation physique et morale.^[2][3]
• 1819 – Éducation surveillée appears.^[3]
• 1869 – Flaubert publishes L'Éducation sentimentale.^[3]
• 1873 – The derivative éducationnel is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The upbringing and training of a person, especially a child, developing his or her physical, intellectual and moral qualities, and the means used for it: l’éducation des enfants.^[8][2]
2. Education as a public service and field of study: sciences de l’éducation, ministère de l’Éducation nationale.^[8][3]
3. Good manners, knowledge of the customs of society: Ce garçon n’a aucune éducation.^[2][3]
4. The training of a faculty or organ: éducation physique.^[2][4]
5. The rearing of certain animals, such as silkworms.^[2][6]

Related words

• éduquer
• éducateur
• Latin ēducātiō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert