Etymologically
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citoyen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 18:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /si.twa.jɛ̃/[1]

Forms

citoyen m (plural citoyens, feminine citoyenne)[1] Old French citeain, citeien (12th century), citoien (second half of the 13th century).[2][1]

Etymology

It is derived from cité with the suffix “-ain”, later confused with “-ien”: Old French citeain, citeien, citoien.[2][3][4][1][5][6] “Cité” is inherited from Latin cīvitās (“body of citizens; city”).[3] Littré derived it from a Late Latin “civitadanus”.[7] It is a doublet of citadin, borrowed from Italian.[1]

Compare Occitan ciutadan, Spanish ciudadano and Italian cittadino.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (1154–1173) a citeain is an inhabitant of a town[2][7]; Thomas Becket's biographer writes des citehains de Lundres fui nés.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From about 1160 (Enéas), as a term of antiquity, a citoyen was a man enjoying the rights of a city, citoyen romain (1638); Corneille's bon citoyen (1641) is a law-abiding man.[2][8] In the 18th century the word took its political sense, a member of a State considered as holder of civic rights (1751), central to the Enlightenment and the Revolution.[2][8]

On 24 May 1792 Pétion urged citoyen and citoyenne as titles in place of monsieur and madame.[2] Familiarly, un drôle de citoyen is an odd fellow (Boileau, 1694).[2][7] As an adjective, Old French had dreit citeien “civil law” (1174–1178); the modern adjective citoyen “civic, responsible”, as in une entreprise citoyenne, is recent.[2][9][1]

Timeline

  • 1154–1173 – Citeain, a town dweller.[2]
  • c. 1160 – A citizen of an ancient city (Enéas).[2]
  • 1290 – Concitoyen.[3]
  • 1641 – Bon citoyen (Corneille).[2]
  • 1751 – A member of a State with political rights.[2][8]
  • 1792 – Citoyen as a title replacing monsieur.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A citizen, a member of a State with civic rights and duties: citoyen français.[9][1]
  2. (history) A person with the rights of a city in antiquity; under the Revolution, a title used instead of monsieur.[9][7]
  3. (familiar) A fellow: un drôle de citoyen.[7][2]

Adjective

  1. Civic, socially responsible: une démarche citoyenne.[1][9]

Word family

  • citoyennement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 725a
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert