argot

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aʁ.ɡo/^[1]
• IPA: /aʁ.ɡɔ/^[1]

Forms

argot m (plural argots)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is very obscure, and many explanations have been proposed.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} As the word first named the brotherhood of beggars and thieves, not their language, the source must be sought in that sense.^[3] Sainéan linked it with “argot”, the old form of ergot (“claw, spur”), theft being pictured as a claw;^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg think it more probably derived from Old French “argoter” “to quarrel”, a variant of ergoter, from Latin ergō (“therefore”).^[4][3][7] Dauzat first proposed Old French “hargaut” “old garment”, from Old Occitan argaut, and later a Spanish “arigote” “contemptible person”;^[3][7][4] Esnault, the verb “arguer” “to draw gold wire”, which Rey finds recorded too late;^[3][7] Guiraud, the old verb “hargoter”, the beggar being one who knocks at doors.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Olivier Chéreau's Le Jargon ou langage de l'argot réformé (Tours, 1628) speaks of the royaume d'argot, the community of beggars: Ha ! vive l'Argot et tous les Gueux !^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The language of this community, earlier its jargon, was itself called argot by Furetière (1701^[2][3][4]; Sainéan's date of 1690 is wrong according to the TLFi): the cant of vagrants and thieves, understood only by them.^[2][3][4] In the 18th century Voltaire extended it to the special words of any profession or group: chaque communauté, chaque société a le sien.^[2][3]

Today argot is the slang of a social group (argot scolaire, argot militaire) and, commonly, the popular vocabulary that has passed from the underworld into everyday speech.^[5][6] Victor Hugo called it le verbe devenu forçat, “the word turned convict”.^[6] Its derivatives include argotier (1628), argotique (1837) and argotologie.^[4][1]

Timeline

• 1628 – Royaume d'argot, the community of beggars^[2][4]; argotier.^[2][4]
• 1701 – The cant of beggars and thieves (Furetière).^[2]
• 1740 – First recorded by the Académie.^[8]
• 18th century – The special vocabulary of a profession (Voltaire).^[2][3]
• 1837 – Argotique.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Cant, the secret language of the underworld.^[5][1]
2. Slang; popular words that have passed into common speech.^[5][1]
3. The special vocabulary of a group or profession; jargon: argot militaire.^[5][6]
4. (historical) The community of beggars and thieves.^[2][9]

Word family

• argotier
• argotique
• argotisme
• argotiste
• argotologie

Related words

• jargon
• ergot
• English argot

Usage notes

A second argot (1690), an old form of ergot, is a gardening term for the part of a branch above the bud.^[7][8]

References

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