changeur

Forms

changeur m (plural changeurs, feminine changeuse)^[1] Old French cangeeur (12th century), changeor.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also chaungeour and chanjur.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French changer + -eur,^[5][2][1] first as cangeeur.^[2][6] Bloch and Wartburg think it was probably modelled on the Italian word cambiatore.^[7] Littré instead derived it from Late Latin cambiator, from cambiō (“to exchange”), and explained the Old French nominative changere beside the oblique case changeor by the place of the Latin stress.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg trace the Late Latin verb to Gaulish.^[7]

Compare Old Occitan camjaire and camjador and Spanish cambiador.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The 12th-century record is cangeeur de monoies, a money changer.^[5][6] Robert de Clari uses the word in his account of Constantinople (1200–1206).^[5] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from the third quarter of the 12th century, for one who exchanges or barters and for a money changer.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman it also named the Controller of the Mint and was used as a surname.^[4] Under the Ancien Régime the changeur was a merchant who held the monopoly of trading in precious metals and changing coin.^[8] Today it is a person who exchanges currencies for a commission.^[5][6]

In the 20th century the word came to name devices: a record changer, and a machine that gives coins in exchange for notes or other coins.^[6][8][9]

Timeline

• 12th century – Cangeeur de monoies “money changer” is recorded.^[5][6]
• c. 1175 – First Anglo-Norman record.^[4]
• 1200–1206 – Robert de Clari uses it in his account of Constantinople.^[5]
• 16th century – Amyot writes of the tables of the changeurs.^[3]
• 1873 – Littré records payer comme un changeur.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who changes currencies for a commission, a money changer.^[6][5][3]
2. (history) Under the Ancien Régime, a merchant holding the monopoly of trading in precious metals and changing coin.^[8]
3. A device for changing something: changeur automatique de disques, a record changer.^[6][8]
4. Changeur de monnaie: a machine that gives coins for banknotes or other coins.^[6][9]

Related words

• changer
• change
• cambiste

Usage notes

Littré records the familiar phrase payer comme un changeur “to pay cash”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org