chapitre

Forms

chapitre m (plural chapitres)^[1] Old French chapitle (1119) and capitre (about 1190).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin capitulum (“little head; section of a text”), a diminutive of caput (“head”) (whence chef).^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg call the word a Frenchification of the Latin, and Picoche counts it among the semi-learned words of this family.^[6][7] Wiktionary notes that an inherited form would have been ⟨*cheveil⟩, and that capitule is a later borrowing of the same Latin word.^[1]

In Medieval Latin the word also meant a meeting of canons that began with the reading of a chapter of the rule, and then the room where they met;^[2][3][6] French took over these senses as well.^[2][3][6] Littré lists Italian capitolo, Spanish cabildo and Portuguese cabido.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) has chapitle for a section of a written work.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 12th century the word took from Medieval Latin the sense of a passage of Scripture read in an office (about 1190), and, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence (1174–1176), both the place where the canons of a cathedral met and the body of canons itself.^[2][3] From the meetings of the chapter came the old avoir plus grande voix en chapitre (before 1544) and avoir voix au chapitre (Académie, 1798), “to have a say”.^[2][3] The verb chapitrer, first capitrer (1440–1442), meant to reprimand a monk before the chapter, then anyone.^[3][6]

From a section of a book, Molière drew the figurative sense “subject, matter” (1671), as in sur ce chapitre.^[2][3][10] Modern uses include a heading of a public budget and a period in someone's life.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1119 – Chapitle in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• 1174–1176 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for the chapter house and the body of canons.^[2]
• c. 1190 – Capitre for a passage of Scripture read in an office, in the Roman de Renart.^[2]
• 1440–1442 – The derived verb capitrer, later chapitrer.^[3]
• Before 1544 – Avoir plus grande voix en chapitre in Bonaventure des Périers.^[2]
• 1671 – Molière uses it for “subject, matter”.^[2]
• 1798 – The Académie records avoir voix au chapitre.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chapter, one of the divisions of a book, treatise or code.^[11][12][1]
2. A heading of a public budget.^[11][12][13]
3. (figurative) A subject, a matter under discussion: sur ce chapitre, au chapitre de.^[11][1]
4. A period of a life or a story: un nouveau chapitre de sa vie.^[12]
5. (religion) The body of canons of a cathedral or collegiate church; an assembly of monks or nuns, or of a knightly order; the place where it meets.^[12][2][1]
6. Avoir voix au chapitre: to have a say, to be entitled to give one's opinion.^[12][2]

Word family

• chapitrer
• sous-chapitre

Related words

• chef
• capitule
• Latin capitulum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 265b
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse