alléguer

Forms

alléguer^[1] Old French auleguer (1273), alleguier (1278) and alliguer, the form in Beaumanoir; the modern form is found from 1393.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin allēgō (“to dispatch, depute, adduce”), formed from ad- and lēgō (“to delegate, send as envoy”), which comes from lēx (“law”).^[5][4][6][1] The Latin verb first meant to send someone as a delegate, also in judicial language, and in imperial Latin came to mean to put forward a fact or argument, the sense taken up in legal usage and kept in Medieval Latin.^[4][5] The DHLF dates the borrowing from 1246, the TLFi from 1273, and Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF from Beaumanoir in 1283.^[5][4][6][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan allegar, Spanish alegar and Italian allegare.^[3] Another compound of the Latin verb gave reléguer, and its simple form gave léguer.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Établissements de Saint Louis (1273) as a legal term, “to cite as an authority”: Por auleguer son privilege (“to plead his privilege”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

French took the late Latin sense, with a legal use “to put forward an argument” from 1280.^[5] In Beaumanoir a defendant alligue respit, pleads a delay.^[3] The Ménagier de Paris (1393) has it for putting forward or relying on facts and arguments, and for invoking something as a justification.^[4]

In the Renaissance it came to mean citing a text or author in support of what one says (1530); this use has grown old since the 19th century except in learned writing.^[5] The GLLF dates the modern sense, putting something forward as an excuse, from François de Sales in 1609.^[7] The French derivatives allégance (1326), alléguement (first allegament, about 1260), allégueur (1417) and alléguable have died out.^[5]

Timeline

• 1273 – Auleguer appears in the Établissements de Saint Louis.^[4]
• 1278 – The form alléguier is recorded.^[2]
• 1280 – Used in law for putting forward an argument.^[5]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it in his customary law.^[6][7][3]
• 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris uses it for relying on facts and arguments.^[4]
• 1530 – Used for citing a text or author in support.^[5]
• 1609 – François de Sales uses it in the modern sense.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cite a text, authority or fact as proof or authority: alléguer un article du code.^[8][7][4]
2. To put forward as an excuse or justification, to plead, also with que: Il a allégué un rendez-vous urgent pour partir plus tôt.^[8][7][9]

Word family

• réalléguer

Related words

• allégateur
• allégation
• léguer
• reléguer
• légat
• Latin allēgō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like céder: the é becomes è before a mute syllable, as in j'allègue.^[2][3]

References

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