agressif

Forms

agressif (feminine agressive, masculine plural agressifs, feminine plural agressives)^[1]

Etymology

The TLFi forms it from French agresser + -if.^[2][1] Rey, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive it rather from the Latin stem of agression,^[3][4][5] and the GLLF from that noun after Latin aggressus, the past participle of aggredior (“to attack”);^[6] Bloch and Wartburg too form it after the Latin participle.^[7] The English word aggressive (1791) was formed from the same Latin stem.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found before 1793 in Barnave, meaning “having the character of an attack”;^[2][6] Rey dates this military use to 1790,^[3] and in 1795 Snetlage recorded le plan agressif de l'ennemi “the enemy's plan of attack”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, of a person inclined to attack, is found in Balzac in 1836.^[3][4] Its uses in psychology, spread by psychoanalysis, and in commerce, as in un vendeur agressif “a pushy salesman”, are recent, the second influenced by English.^[3] By extension it describes what assaults the senses, such as a garish colour.^[5][6] The derivatives agressivement (1845) and agressivité (1873, in the Goncourts) followed.^[3]

Timeline

• 1790 – First military use, as Rey dates it.^[3]
• before 1793 – Barnave uses it.^[2][6]
• 1795 – Snetlage records le plan agressif de l'ennemi.^[2]
• 1836 – Balzac uses it in the modern sense.^[3][4]
• 1845 – Agressivement is recorded.^[3]
• 1873 – Agressivité appears in the Goncourts.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having the character of an attack; showing a will to attack or criticise harshly: un ton agressif.^[5][9]
2. Inclined to attack or to seek a fight; aggressive, quarrelsome.^[5][10]
3. (by extension) Pushy, forceful: un vendeur agressif.^[5][3]
4. (psychology) Showing agressivité: des pulsions agressives.^[5][9]
5. Shocking the senses, garish: une couleur agressive.^[5][9]

Word family

• agressivement
• agressivité

Related words

• agresser
• agression
• agresseur
• Latin aggredior
• English aggressive

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)