ajustement

Forms

ajustement m (plural ajustements)^[1] Early spellings were adjutement (1328) and adjustement (1331).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French ajuster + -ment.^[2][4][5][1] The verb ajuster is formed from à and juste.^[3][4] Littré compares Occitan ajustamen.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1328, as adjutement, for the monopoly of adjusting measures; in 1331 adjustement is the right to adjust measures.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of putting things in the right arrangement, “handsome ordering”, is recorded by Cotgrave in 1611, and Rey dates the modern sense “action of adjusting things” from then.^[2][4][3] In the 17th century it also meant an accommodation or settlement between people (1658, in Balzac, Molière in 1661), and a person's dress or finery (1659, in Molière's Précieuses ridicules), a sense now old-fashioned.^[2][7] Painters used it from 1699 for the drapery of figures.^[2]

In modern technical language it is the degree of tightness or play between two assembled parts, and statistics and economics use it for smoothing a series or balancing an account.^[7][8] It is also the adaptation of one thing to another, as of wages to the cost of living.^[9][8]

Timeline

• 1328 – Adjutement is recorded for the monopoly of adjusting measures.^[2]
• 1331 – Adjustement means the right to adjust measures.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense of orderly arrangement.^[2]
• 1658 – Balzac uses it for an accommodation between parties.^[2]
• 1659 – Molière uses it for dress and finery.^[2]
• 1699 – R. de Piles uses it of the drapery of painted figures.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of adjusting something, or the result; an adjustment.^[7][10][1]
2. (mechanics) The degree of tightness or play between two assembled parts, one fitting into the other; a fit.^[7][8]
3. (figurative) Adaptation, the bringing of one thing into line with another: l’ajustement des salaires.^[7][9][8]
4. (statistics) The smoothing of irregularities in a series of data to show the general trend.^[7][10]
5. (economics) An entry added to balance an economic account, for errors and omissions.^[8]
6. (archaic) Dress, attire, finery.^[7][2]
7. (dated) An accommodation or settlement between parties.^[2][6]

Related words

• ajuster
• ajustage
• ajusteur
• réajustement
• rajustement
• juste

References

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