commémoratif

Forms

commémoratif (feminine commémorative, masculine plural commémoratifs, feminine plural commémoratives)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French commémorer + -atif.^[2][3] The Grand Robert and Littré derive it from the stem of commémoration,^[4][5] and Wiktionary takes it from New Latin commemorātīvus.^[1]

The verb was borrowed from Latin commemorō (“to mention, recall”), from com- and memorō.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is religious: Mornay wrote of a sacrifice commemoratif in 1598, a record the TLFi calls isolated.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

After falling out of use, it was taken up again in the 18th century as a medical term (1741) and as a religious one (1771).^[2][6] In medicine, signes commémoratifs were the marks left on a patient's body by past illness.^[5] The general sense, matching the verb commémorer that had been revived during the Revolution, is recorded in 1808 in Boiste.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1598 – Mornay writes sacrifice commemoratif.^[2]
• 1741 – It is taken up as a medical term.^[2][6]
• 1771 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records it as a religious term.^[2]
• 1808 – Boiste records the general sense.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That recalls the memory of a person or an event, commemorative: une plaque commémorative, un monument commémoratif.^[3][5]
2. (medicine, dated) Of the signs or circumstances of a patient's past history: signes commémoratifs.^[5][2]

Related words

• commémorer
• commémoration
• mémoire

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France