changement

Forms

changement m (plural changements)^[1] Old French cangement (early 12th century) and chaingement (late 12th century).^[2] Anglo-Norman also wrote chanjement.^[3]

Etymology

It is from French changer (“to change”) + -ment, formed in Old French.^[2][4][1] The verb continues Late Latin cambiō (“to exchange, barter”), which Bloch and Wartburg trace to a Gaulish word, comparing Middle Irish cimb (“tribute”).^[5]

Littré lists the Romance parallels Occitan cambiamen, Spanish cambiamiento and Italian cambiamento.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as cangement in the Oxford Psalter, early in the 12th century, meaning the act of changing, a mutation.^[2][4] The GLLF dates this first record to about 1120 and finds the sense “replacement of one person or thing by another” in the Antéchrist, early in the 13th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the noun covered both the act of changing and its result, and it has kept that breadth; the Old French noun change also meant “change” until the 17th century, before it specialised in money-changing and exchange.^[5][8] Littré already records changement as a theatre term, the change of scenery, and the phrase changement à vue, a scene change made in view of the audience without lowering the curtain.^[6][7]

The technical changement de vitesse, the gear system of a motor vehicle, is recorded by Larousse in 1929.^[7] In everyday French the word also names a change of trains or underground lines.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – Cangement in the Oxford Psalter.^[2]
• Late 12th century – The spelling chaingemenz in the Sermons of Saint Bernard.^[2]
• Early 13th century – Used for the replacement of one thing by another, in the Antéchrist.^[7]
• 1929 – Larousse records changement de vitesse.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A change, alteration of a quality or state: changement d'humeur, changement de cap.^[9][7]
2. The fact of no longer being the same; a change in a person.^[9][7]
3. The replacement of one thing or person by another: changement de nom, changement de voiture, changement d'heure, the switch between summer and winter time.^[9][7]
4. Le changement: change in general, novelty, the breaking of habits.^[9][10]
5. A connection when travelling by train or underground.^[9][10]
6. Changement de vitesse: the gear system of a vehicle, or its gear lever.^[7][10]
7. (theatre) Changement à vue: a scene change made without lowering the curtain.^[6][10]

Related words

• changer
• change
• rechange
• Late Latin cambiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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 c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)