Etymologically
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état

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Pronunciation

Forms

état m (plural états)[1] First written estate (1213), then estat (about 1370); état is recorded from 1636.[2][3] In the sense “state, nation, government” it is usually written with a capital: État.[1][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin status (“a standing; position, situation”), from stō (“to stand”), which goes back to an Indo-European root “*sta-” “to stand”.[5][2][6][7] In Latin “status” was often joined to “civitas” and “imperium” and took in Late Latin the sense “form of government”; legal Late Latin used it for a person's status, and Medieval Latin for an inventory (13th century).[5][2] The political sense may also owe something to Italian stato, used by Dante and later by Guicciardini.[5][6]

The inherited outcome of “status” was Old French esté “height, length; rank; stature”.[2] Cognate with Old Occitan estat, Spanish estado and Italian stato.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As estate it is first found in 1213 in the Fet des Romains, meaning the way a thing or person is at a given moment.[5][2] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1196.[6]

Semantic evolution

From the Roman de la Rose (1285) it meant a person's social or professional position, a sense alive in classical French (choisir un état) and still in de son état (il est médecin de son état).[5][2] In Ancien Régime France it named each political and social order (about 1376, trois estas), the clergy, nobility and commons, as in tiers état and États généraux.[5][2][3] An estat was also a written list recording the condition of things (1467), and état civil a person's civil status (1756).[5]

Commynes (about 1500) uses it for a nation under one authority, and secrétaire d'État is in the Satyre Ménippée (1594).[5][6] The physical sense en bon état “in good health” is found in 1625, and science made much use of the word from the 18th century: état liquide, solide (1781), gazeux (1863).[9][2] Dans tous ses états “very agitated” dates from 1864.[2]

Timeline

  • 1213 – Estate in the Fet des Romains.[5]
  • 1285 – Social or professional position, in the Roman de la Rose.[5]
  • c. 1376 – Trois estas, the orders of the realm.[5]
  • 1467 – A written statement, in a letter of Louis XI.[5]
  • c. 1500 – A nation under one authority, in Commynes.[5]
  • 1594 – Secrétaire d'État.[5]
  • 1636 – The spelling état.[3][10]
  • 1756 – État civil in the Encyclopédie.[5]
  • 1864 – Dans tous ses états.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A state, condition (of a person or thing): état de santé, en bon état, état d'esprit.[5][1]
  2. (physics) A state of matter: état solide, liquide, gazeux.[2]
  3. A written statement or list: état des dépenses, état des lieux.[5][1]
  4. (dated) A trade or profession: de son état.[2]
  5. (history) An estate of the realm: le tiers état, les États généraux.[2][3]
  6. État civil: civil status; the register office.[5]
  7. (usually capitalized) A State, a nation; its government and administration: chef d'État, homme d'État.[1][4]
  8. Dans tous ses états: in a great state of agitation.[2]

Word family

  • étatisme
  • étatiser
  • état-major
  • étatique

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 248a
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert