adhérent

Forms

adhérent (feminine adhérente, masculine plural adhérents, feminine plural adhérentes)^[1] First spelled adhérant (1331).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin adhaerēns (“one who belongs to someone's party”), the present participle, used as a noun, of Latin adhaereō (“to cling to”).^[3][4][5][1] The Medieval Latin noun is recorded both for a partisan and for a subject.^[3] The DHLF sees it rather as the present participle of adhérer, shaped after the Latin participle.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A text of 1331 on trade between France and Flanders uses it for a person attached to or dealing with someone.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century it meant a supporter or ally, often in a bad sense (leurs complices et leurs adhérens, 1346), and in Froissart a dependant or subject.^[3] Calvin and Amyot use it for followers of a cause or enterprise.^[6]

The concrete sense “sticking firmly” was taken up in the 17th century (Richelet, 1680), with several technical uses, among them botany.^[2][3][6] In the 19th century (1855) the noun took its current sense, a member of an organization such as a party or union, in step with adhérer and adhésion.^[2]

Timeline

• 1331 – First recorded as a noun, “one attached to someone”.^[3][2]
• 1346 – “Partisan, ally”, in a document from Reims.^[3]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it for subjects.^[3]
• 1680 – Richelet records the adjective “sticking fast”.^[3][2]
• 1855 – The noun takes the sense “member of an association”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Sticking firmly to something.^[7][6][5]
2. (botany) Of an ovary or calyx: fused to the adjoining organ.^[7][6]
3. (mathematics) Relating to adhérence in topology, as in point adhérent.^[7]

Noun

1. A member of a party, association or union: carte d'adhérent, a membership card.^[7][2]
2. (dated) A supporter, a partisan.^[6][5]

Related words

• adhérer
• adhérence
• adhésion
• Latin adhaereō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert