belligérant

Forms

belligérant (feminine belligérante, masculine plural belligérants, feminine plural belligérantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin belligerāns (“waging war”), the present participle of belligerō (“to wage war”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} formed from bellum (“war”) and the stem of gerō (“to carry, to conduct”).^[5][7][8] It belongs to the learned family of belliqueux.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a royal ordinance of 1744, of a state at war.^[5][2] The GLLF's first record is the Trévoux dictionary of 1752.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Used first of states taking part in a war, it was extended in law to persons who take part in the fighting in a regular army, and then passed into general use of people and, by metonymy, of abstract things.^[5][10] The plural noun belligérants names the states at war.^[10][9]

Its derivatives are cobelligérant (1794), belligérance, proposed in 1845 by Richard de Radonvilliers and in use from 1874, and non-belligérant and non-belligérance (about 1939), for a state that keeps out of a conflict without strict neutrality.^[5]

Timeline

• 1744 – First recorded in a royal ordinance.^[5][2]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records it.^[9]
• 1794 – Cobelligérant appears.^[5]
• 1874 – Belligérance comes into use.^[5]
• c. 1939 – Non-belligérant and non-belligérance appear.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a state: at war, taking part in a war: puissances belligérantes: Les deux pays belligérants ont signé une trêve.^[4][10][7]

Noun

1. (law) A person taking part in the fighting in a regular army, a combattant.^[4][10][9]
2. (international law, usually plural) A state at war: les droits des belligérants.^[10][9]

Word family

• belligérance
• cobelligérant
• non-belligérant
• non-belligérance

Related words

• belliqueux
• gérer
• Latin bellum
• English belligerent

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e 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