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client

Etymology and origin of the French word client

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1437, Coutumes d'Anjou et du Maine (clienton, 1345)
Borrowed from
Latin cliens
Ultimate origin
Latin (cliēns)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cliens
English client
French client

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kli.jɑ̃/[1]

Forms

client m (plural clients, feminine cliente)[1] The derivative clienton is found in 1345.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cliēns (“protégé of a patron; vassal”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] In Rome a “cliens” was the plebeian who put himself under the protection of a patrician, his “patronus” (see patron); it also named a vassal person or people among the Celts, and in Medieval Latin a vassal or a household servant (11th century).[3][2] The origin of the Latin word is unknown, perhaps Etruscan; it has also been taken as a participle of a root of the family of clīnō (“to lean”) (see incliner).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1437 the Coutumes d'Anjou et du Maine use it for a person who entrusts his interests to a lawyer.[2][7] Richelet in 1680 thought this use a little old.[2]

Semantic evolution

The 16th century took up the political sense again: one who places himself under a great man's protection (1538) and, in Roman history, the client of a patrician (1543).[2][3] The idea of payment then won over that of protection: a doctor's patient was his client (1845), and in 1826 the word meant a buyer, from 1832 a regular customer, replacing pratique and chaland.[2][3] In Rome it was the patron who bought from his clients, which is why English still calls a customer a English patron.[3] In Africa and Madagascar client can mean the usual seller; in familiar French être client means to be keen on something.[3][8]

Timeline

  • 1345 – Clienton.[2]
  • 1437 – A lawyer's client.[2]
  • 1538 – A great man's protégé, Robert Estienne.[2]
  • 1543 – The client of a Roman patrician.[2]
  • 1826 – A buyer.[2]
  • 1832 – A regular customer.[2]
  • 1845 – A doctor's patient, Bescherelle.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A customer, a person who buys from a shop or business: un bon client, le client est roi.[8][1]
  2. A person who pays for professional services: les clients d'un avocat, d'un notaire.[8][9]
  3. (computing) A program or computer that requests a service from a server.[9]
  4. (familiar) Être client: to be keen, interested.[8]
  5. (Ancient Rome) A plebeian under the protection of a patrician, (dated) a protégé.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 779b
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Client.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/client. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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