appartement

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.paʁ.tə.mɑ̃/^[1]

Forms

appartement m (plural appartements)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian appartamento,^[2][3][4][5] which the Petit Robert and Rey take from Spanish apartamiento (“separate place, dwelling”), a derivative of “apartarse” “to move apart, separate” (compare Italian appartare (“to set apart”)), from Latin pars (“part”) (see part).^[2][5][6][1] Littré proposed a Low Latin “appartiamentum” “division”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Bellay used it in 1559; it was rare before the 17th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it was a part of a great house set apart for one person's use (les appartements of a prince in a palace), and in classical French il y a appartement meant a royal reception with music and dancing.^[2][8] It could also simply mean a room, a sense that survives in Canadian French.^[8][2]

With apartment buildings divided in advance (early 19th century), it came to mean a dwelling of several rooms within such a building.^[2][5] The commercial phrase vente par appartements (the sale of a group by divisions) is used figuratively from the 1980s, and the familiar appart dates from 1976.^[2][6] English apartment was borrowed in the 1640s for private rooms in a house.^[9]

Timeline

• 1559 – In Du Bellay.^[3]
• 1640s – English apartment.^[9]
• 17th century – Part of a great house.^[2]
• Early 19th century – A flat.^[2]
• 1842 – The variant à part.^[2]
• 1976 – Appart.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An apartment, flat: un appartement de quatre pièces, plantes d'appartement: house plants.^[5][1]
2. (plural) The private rooms of a great personage: les appartements royaux.^[8][5]
3. (dated, Canada) A room.^[8][2]

Related words

• part
• département
• English apartment

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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com