Etymologically
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collègue

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Pronunciation

Forms

collègue m or f by sense (plural collègues)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague in a magistracy; companion, comrade”).[2][3][4][5] Like collēgium, the source of collège, the Latin word is connected with lēx (“law”), perhaps through lēgō (“to delegate, bequeath”): a colleague was someone who had received a power jointly with others.[3] The GLLF analyses it as cum (“with”) and legō (“to choose”),[6] and Littré derived it from colligō.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found before 1520 in Claude de Seyssel's translation of Appian's Civil Wars, printed in 1544, for one who holds the same office as another.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a person who holds the same post or function as others within a public or private body.[3][2] Its friendly sense “mate, pal” (1872, Alphonse Daudet's Tartarin de Tarascon) belongs to the familiar French of Marseille and its region, where it is also a term of address, and probably developed under the influence of Provençal.[3][2][5] With this sense it is also used in the French of Africa.[3]

Timeline

  • Before 1520 – Claude de Seyssel uses it for a fellow office-holder.[2]
  • 1872 – Daudet uses it for a friend, in southern French.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A colleague, a person with the same post or function as others, or working in the same organisation: une collègue de bureau.[8][1]
  2. (familiar, southern France) A friend, mate.[8][1][3]

Usage notes

Collègue is said of those who share a function or workplace, while confrère is said of members of the same profession or society.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 896b
  6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert