Etymologically
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client

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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)