animateur

Forms

animateur m (plural animateurs, feminine animatrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French animer + -ateur.^[1][2][3] Rey notes that Late Latin animātor (“creator, life-giver”) already existed;^[2] the Petit Robert gives that word as the source.^[4] The verb animer is from Latin animō (“to give life”), from anima (“breath of life”).^[5] Picoche places the Latin noun in the family of an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ane- (“breath of life”), also seen in Ancient Greek ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates the word to 1787, in the strong sense “who gives life, creator”;^[2] the GLLF, the Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1801, from Louis-Sébastien Mercier.^[3][7][5]

Semantic evolution

For more than a century the word was rare and mostly literary, an adjective or noun for what or who breathes life into something (principe animateur).^[2][8] It became common in the 20th century, when it took on its modern senses: a person who drives a group or a collective undertaking, a film director (1921, now obsolete), the maker of animated cartoons (1929), a presenter of a show (about 1960), and a professional organiser of group activities (1967).^[2][4] The cinema sense is found in 1929 in a book on scientific cartoons.^[9] In cycling reports an animateur is a rider who livens up a race (1955).^[9] In Africa it also names a political activist in charge of a local animation, and an animateur rural is an official who spreads modern farming methods.^[2]

Timeline

• 1787 – First recorded, meaning “who gives life, creator”.^[2]
• 1801 – Used by Mercier.^[3]
• 1921 – Used of a film director, a sense that has disappeared.^[2]
• 1929 – First used of the maker of animated cartoons.^[4][2][9]
• c. 1960 – Used of a presenter of a show or broadcast.^[2]
• 1967 – Used of a professional organiser of group activities.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) That gives life or movement: une force animatrice.^[4][10][11]

Noun

1. A person who leads and inspires a group or undertaking by their energy: l'animateur d'une campagne.^[4][3]
2. A presenter or host of a show or a radio or television programme, also used for a disc jockey.^[4][12]
3. (cinema) An animator, a maker of animated cartoons.^[4][9]
4. A person who organises and runs activities for a group, such as a holiday centre for children.^[4][1]

Related words

• animer
• animation
• âme
• Latin anima

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Académie française (1932–1935), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 8th ed., Paris: Hachette
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)