article

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aʁ.tikl/^[1]

Forms

article m (plural articles)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin articulus (“joint; part, division; moment”), borrowed in 1248 with the ending adapted.^[2][3][4] The Latin word is a diminutive of artus (“limbs, joints”), of the same Indo-European family as Ancient Greek ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint”), which it translated in grammar.^[2][5] Rey notes that all the senses of the Latin word were kept in French, which supposes several borrowings: the legal sense in the 13th century, the grammatical one in the 13th, the time sense in the phrase for the moment of death, and the anatomical one in the 16th century.^[2][3]

The inherited doublet is orteil “toe”.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, in the middle of the 13th century, is a numbered part of a legal text;^[2][5] Littré quotes a 13th-century text on a dispute de quatre articles with the merchants.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the parts of a legal text it was applied to the items of an account and of any writing, and to the points of an argument (early 14th century).^[2] Article de foi, a point of belief, is from the 13th century,^[2] and à l'article de la mort (1450) translates Latin in articulo mortis, “at the moment of death”.^[2][3] The grammatical sense, the determiner before a noun, is found in 1263.^[2]

Since 1711 it has meant a piece of writing in a newspaper or review, a sense that grew with the periodical press.^[2][6] From the items of an account or list came the commercial sense “item for sale” (mid-18th century, article de commerce 1771), and, from it faire l'article “to praise one's goods” (1826, Balzac).^[2][6] The anatomical sense “joint” (16th century, Paré) has died out, except in zoology for a segment of an insect's limb (1789).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1248 – First record, in a legal text.^[2]
• 1263 – Grammatical sense.^[2]
• 13th century – Article de la foi.^[2]
• 1450 – À l'article de la mort.^[2]
• 16th century – “Joint”, in Paré.^[3][2]
• 1711 – A newspaper article, in Saint-Simon.^[6][2]
• 1771 – Article de commerce.^[2]
• 1826 – Faire l'article, in Balzac.^[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A division, usually numbered, of a law, contract or treaty: article premier.^[7][8]
2. Article de foi: an article of faith, a point of dogma.^[7][8]
3. A piece of writing in a newspaper, review or dictionary: article de presse.^[9][8]
4. An item of merchandise, faire l'article, to praise one's goods.^[7][9]
5. (grammar) An article: article défini, article indéfini.^[7][1]
6. À l'article de la mort: at the point of death.^[1][5]
7. (zoology) A segment of an arthropod's body or limbs.^[7][10]

Related words

• articulation
• articuler
• orteil
• Latin articulus

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 378a
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
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