authenticité

Forms

authenticité f (plural authenticités)^[1] Earlier autentiquité (1557), an isolated form.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French authentique + -ité.^[1][4][2] The isolated authentiquité of 1557 was re-formed as authenticité (1684) after the stem of Latin authenticus.^[3][5] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek αὐθεντικός (authentikós).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ferry Julyot wrote autentiquité in 1557; the form authenticité is dated 1684 by the Petit Robert and the DHLF, 1688 (Montfaucon) by the GLLF, and 1748 (Buffon) by the TLFi and the Grand Robert.^{[2][5][3][7][4]}

Semantic evolution

The word first followed the legal sense of authentique: the quality of a deed drawn up with the required formalities.^[2][5] In the 19th and 20th centuries it took on the other senses of the adjective: the genuineness of a text or work whose author is certain, the truth of an event or testimony, and in the 20th century the sincerity of a person or a feeling.^[3][5][2] In African French it named the policy of specifically African values that Mobutu proclaimed in Zaire in 1971.^[3]

Timeline

• 1557 – Ferry Julyot uses autentiquité.^[2][3]
• 1684 – The form authenticité is recorded.^[5][3]
• 1688 – Montfaucon uses authenticité.^[2][7]
• 1748 – Buffon's use is the TLFi's first record.^[7][4]
• 1867 – The antonym inauthenticité is recorded.^[3]
• 1971 – In Zaire, the word names Mobutu's doctrine of African values.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The quality of an act drawn up with the required formalities by a competent public officer: contester l'authenticité d'un testament.^[5][2][8]
2. The genuineness of a writing or work that really comes from its supposed author: l'authenticité d'un manuscrit.^[5][9]
3. By extension, conformity to the truth: the authenticity of a fact or a testimony.^[5][2]
4. The sincerity of a person or feeling, the quality of being true to oneself.^[5][2][9]

Related words

• authentique
• authentiquer
• inauthenticité
• Latin authenticus

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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
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. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)