brigadier

Forms

brigadier m (plural brigadiers, feminine brigadière)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French brigade + -ier.^[2][3][4][1] The base noun is from Italian brigata (“troop”), from briga (“strife”), probably through the verb brigare, which must have meant “to go in a troop”.^[4] The TLFi dates the derivative to 1640, Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF to 1642.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Oudin's Recherches italiennes et françoises (1640).^[2] At first the word named a senior officer in certain armies.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Under the old monarchy the brigadier des armées du roi held a rank between colonel and maréchal de camp and commanded several battalions of one arm.^[7][5][8] That rank disappeared; the word was later taken up again in history and, familiarly, for a général de brigade.^[6][5]

After the brigade of the gendarmerie, it came to mean the non-commissioned officer at the head of such a unit, and it became the lowest rank in the cavalry, artillery and train, the equivalent of a caporal.^[6][7][9] Following brigade, it spread to the navy, where Littré records it for the first seaman of a boat's crew, and to administration and the trades.^[6][7] By analogy with the police brigadier's baton, it named in the 19th century the stick with which the stage manager strikes the three knocks in the theatre, a sense that has aged.^[6] The feminine brigadière was used elliptically for perruque à la brigadière (1838).^[6] English took brigadier from French in the 1670s.^[10]

Timeline

• 1640 – First record, in Oudin's Recherches italiennes et françoises.^[2][3]
• 1642 – The date Bloch and Wartburg give for the derivative.^[4][5]
• 1670s – English borrows brigadier for the officer commanding a brigade.^[10]
• 1838 – Brigadière is used for a kind of wig.^[6]
• 19th century – The word names the stick for the three knocks in the theatre.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) The lowest rank in the cavalry, the artillery and the train, corresponding to a corporal.^[9][8][11] Brigadier-chef is the rank just above it.^[9][5]
2. The head of a brigade of gendarmes, forest guards or road menders.^[9][11]
3. A police officer of junior rank.^[9]
4. (familiar) A brigadier general, a général de brigade.^[9][8][11]
5. (historical) Brigadier des armées du roi: a general officer ranking between colonel and maréchal de camp.^[8][5]
6. (navy) The leading seaman of a boat's crew.^[9][7]
7. (theatre) The stick used to strike the three knocks before the curtain rises.^[9][11]
8. A school crossing guard (brigadier scolaire).^[1]

Word family

• brigadier-chef
• sous-brigadier

Related words

• brigade
• embrigader
• Italian brigata
• English brigadier

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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 f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)