collaborateur

Forms

collaborateur m (plural collaborateurs, feminine collaboratrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Late Latin collabōrō (“to work together”), with the suffix -ateur,^[2][3][4] formed directly on the stem of the Latin verb.^[3] Wiktionary derives it from collaborer with the same suffix,^[1] and Littré from a Latin *collabōrātor that is not attested.^[5] The Latin verb is from col- and labōrō (“to work”), from labor (“work”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Année littéraire of 1755 has it for a person who works with another.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The feminine collaboratrice is recorded by the Académie in 1798.^[2] About 1940, under the German occupation of France, the word took a political sense, a Frenchman who supported collaboration with Germany, with the pejorative clipping collabo;^[3][4][2] the TLFi's first dated record of both is in Marcel Aymé's Uranus (1948).^[2] The neutral sense survived beside it.^[3] English collaborator (1802) comes from the French word.^[6]

Timeline

• 1755 – First record, in the Année littéraire.^[2][4][7]
• 1798 – The Académie records the feminine collaboratrice.^[2]
• 1802 – English collaborator is recorded.^[6]
• c. 1940 – The political sense and the clipping collabo appear.^[3][4]
• 1948 – Marcel Aymé uses both in Uranus.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who works with others on a common task; a colleague, assistant or associate: les collaborateurs du laboratoire.^[8][9][4]
2. (figurative) Something that helps to bring about a result.^[2][4]
3. (history) During the German occupation of France (1940–1944), a French supporter of collaboration with Germany; familiarly and pejoratively collabo.^[8][9][2]

Word family

• collabo

Related words

• collaborer
• collaboration
• collaborationniste
• labeur
• Latin collabōrō
• English collaborator

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)