ambassadeur

Forms

ambassadeur m (plural ambassadeurs, feminine ambassadrice)^[1] First written embassator (early 14th century); ambassadeur from 1366.^[2][3][4] More French-looking adaptations of the Italian word occur as ambasseor (1262–1268, Brunetto Latini), ambasaor (1299, Marco Polo) and ambasseurs (14th century).^[2] Anglo-Norman spellings include ambassatour, ambaxadeur and embassadeur.^[5] Feminine ambassadrice (1694), earlier embasciatrice (late 16th century).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian ambasciatore, recorded in Italian from the 13th century,^[2][4][3][6] which was itself borrowed from Old Occitan ambaissador, a derivative of ambaissada (“message”), like ambassade.^[2][4][3] Beside it the TLFi notes Medieval Latin ambasciator (“envoy of a city”), well attested in northern Italy from the late 12th century.^[2]

That Occitan noun derives from a borrowing of Medieval Latin ambactia (“service, office”).^[4] The Romans recognised the word as Gaulish: Gaulish *ambactos (“a person in another's service”) is rendered Latin ambactus by Ennius and Caesar.^[4][7] According to the DHLF it may have passed from Celtic into Germanic, where it gave Gothic words for “servant” and “service” and German Amt (“office”), before reaching Latin;^[4][8] the DHLF traces the Gaulish word to Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move around”), whereas Etymonline analyses it as *ambhi- (“around”) and *ag- (“to drive”).^[4][7]

Cognate with Portuguese embaixador.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record, from the early 14th century, is embassator por lo pape in Aimé du Mont-Cassin's Ystoire de li Normant, meaning an envoy sent on a mission to a foreign government;^[2] ambassadeur itself appears in 1366 in the Récit d'un bourgeois de Valenciennes.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant an envoy on a particular mission, and later the permanent representative of one state to another.^[4][6] From 1584 it is also used of anyone carrying a message, and ambassadeur d'amour then meant a go-between in love affairs, a procurer.^[2] Littré quotes Froissart's ambaxadeurs and Deschamps' ambasseurs from the late Middle Ages.^[9]

The feminine ambassadrice, also an Italianism, meant the wife of an ambassador (late 16th century), a woman sent on an embassy (1694) and a woman entrusted with a message (1651), and since the mid-20th century a woman holding the office herself.^[2][4] Both forms are now used of a person who represents an art or a quality of their country abroad.^[4][6][10]

The English word ambassador, late 14th century, came from Old French embassator, ambassateor;^[7] the Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1384.^[5]

Timeline

• 1300-1325 – Embassator appears in Aimé du Mont-Cassin.^[2]
• 1366 – The form ambassadeur appears in the Récit d'un bourgeois de Valenciennes.^[2][3]
• 1384 – The Anglo-Norman word is recorded in England.^[5]
• 1584 – Ambassadeur d'amour is used of a go-between.^[2]
• Late 16th century – The feminine embasciatrice “ambassador's wife” appears.^[2][4]
• 1694 – The Académie records ambassadrice.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ambassador: the permanent representative of a state to a foreign state or an international body, the highest rank in the diplomatic hierarchy.^[6][10][2]
2. (historical) An envoy sent by a state on a particular mission;^[6][11] ambassadeur extraordinaire, one sent on a temporary mission.^[6][11]
3. A person entrusted with a message or an errand: elle sera notre ambassadrice auprès du directeur.^[6][10][9]
4. A person who represents an activity or a quality of their country abroad.^[6][10]
5. (feminine, dated) Ambassadrice: the wife of an ambassador.^[6][4]

Related words

• ambassade
• ambassadrice

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 19b
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse