évasion

Forms

évasion f (plural évasions)^[1] Old French evacion.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin ēvāsiō (“escape, deliverance”), a word of Christian Latin, from ēvādō (“to escape”).^[2][3][4] The Grand Robert and the GLLF derive the Latin noun from the supine evasum.^[5][6] It belongs with évader.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 13th century in an Introductoire d'astronomie, meaning the action of escaping;^[2] the GLLF notes that this text uses it of the motion of a planet.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Before 1328 the Ovide moralisé used evacion figuratively for a loophole or evasion, a sense still current in the 19th century.^[2][3] Eustache Deschamps complained of finding many evasions in written documents.^[7] At the beginning of the 20th century it came to mean an escape from reality or from the routine of daily life, whence d'évasion for a relaxing book or film.^[3][6] In finance it is used of capital flight (about 1970), and évasion fiscale is tax avoidance.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1250–1300 – First record, in an Introductoire d'astronomie.^[2]
• before 1328 – Evacion “loophole” in the Ovide moralisé.^[2][3]
• before 1679 – Retz uses it of an escape from confinement.^[6]
• early 20th century – It comes to mean escape from everyday reality.^[3][6]
• c. 1970 – It is used of capital leaving a country.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An escape from a place of confinement, especially from prison.^[8][9]
2. (figurative) An escape from constraint or daily routine, distraction: un besoin d'évasion.^[8][9]
3. Évasion fiscale: tax avoidance by clever use of the law or by fraud.^[2]
4. Évasion de capitaux: the flight of capital abroad.^[9][3]

Word family

• évasif

Related words

• évader
• Late Latin ēvāsiō

References

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