achèvement

Forms

achèvement m (plural achèvements)^[1] Old French achevement, also aquiesvement (1338).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French achever + -ment.^[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found shortly after 1273 in Adenet le Roi's Enfances Ogier, meaning the bringing of something to its end: the poet says he would never finish if he told how each knight fought.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From “bringing to an end” it soon meant “fulfilment, accomplishment”: in the Vœu du Héron (1338) a boast is worth nothing without its aquiesvement.^[2] In 1611 it took the sense of perfection, the finished state a work can reach, which is now literary.^[4][5] In 1693 Le Bossu's treatise on the epic poem used it as a term of criticism for what completes the outcome of a work's action;^[2][6] Littré illustrates it with the death of Hector, which follows the reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon in the Iliad.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1273–1274 – First recorded, in Adenet le Roi's Enfances Ogier.^[2]
• 1338 – Aquiesvement “accomplishment” in the Vœu du Héron.^[2]
• 1611 – First used for perfection.^[5][4]
• 1693 – Le Bossu uses it as a term of literary criticism.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of finishing a work; its completion, its end: l'achèvement du pont.^[5][2][7]
2. (literary) Perfection, the most finished state a work can reach.^[5][8]
3. (literary criticism) What completes the outcome of a work's plot.^[6][2]

Related words

• achever
• inachevé
• parachèvement

References

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