assertion

Forms

assertion f (plural assertions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin assertiō (“a claim to free status, affirmation”), a learned borrowing dated 1294 by the DHLF, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert;^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give 1355, from a royal ordinance.^[5][6] The Latin noun first meant the act of claiming a slave's free status.^[2][3] From the 2nd century it also meant “affirmation”.^[2][3]

It comes from asserō (“to lay claim to, assert”), from ad- and serō (“to join in a row”).^[2][7] The legal procedure in which a person was led before the judge by the hand to have his freedom claimed gave the verb its senses “to claim, defend” and “to affirm”.^[2][7] Latin writers already linked the same verb with sermō, the source of sermon, and seriēs, the source of série.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Littré's earliest quotation is from a 14th-century royal ordinance, in which no one was to be admitted to muster on a written note or on the assersion of his word alone.^[7]

Semantic evolution

French took over only the logical sense, “affirmation”.^[2] The word stayed in use as a learned or literary term, then in philosophy (1835, of Kant) and later in logic and linguistics, where it names any sentence that is neither a question nor an exclamation.^[2][4] From it came the adjective assertif (1836) and the verb asserter (1851), revived about 1960 under the influence of English to assert.^[2]

Timeline

• 1294 – First record of assertion.^[2][3]
• 1355 – It appears in a royal ordinance.^[5][6]
• 1835 – It is used in philosophy, of Kant.^[2]
• 1836 – The adjective assertif is derived.^[2]
• 1851 – The verb asserter is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A proposition, affirmative or negative in form, that one puts forward and holds to be true; an assertion or claim: ses assertions ne reposent sur rien.^[8][4][9]
2. (linguistics) A sentence that is neither a question nor an exclamation.^[4][10]

Word family

• assertif
• asserter

Related words

• assertorique
• série
• sermon
• Latin assertiō

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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 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. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)