commandeur

Forms

commandeur m (plural commandeurs, feminine commandeuse)^[1] Old French comandere (the nominative) and comandeor, commandeor (the oblique case).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French commander + -eur,^[2][5][1] first as Old French comandere (“chief”) (1167–1170) and commandeor (1260).^[2][6] The verb is from Vulgar Latin *commandō, a remaking of Latin commendō (“to entrust, commend”) after mandō (“to order”).^[7][8] Littré compared Old Occitan comandaire, Spanish comendador and Italian commendatore, and traced the Old French nominative and oblique forms straight to commendātor and its accusative.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Gautier d'Arras's Ille et Galeron (1167–1170) comandere means a chief, one who gives orders.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “commander, chief” lasted until Cotgrave (1611).^[2] From 1260 the word was the title of a knight of a military order, such as the Templars or the Order of Malta, who held a commanderie (1387).^[2][10][7] The figure of the Commandeur in Molière's and Mozart's Don Juan, whose statue comes to supper, gave la statue du Commandeur, an image of the justice that strikes down a crime.^[2][11][5]

Napoleon had named a grade of the Legion of Honour commandant; the Restoration replaced it with commandeur to bring the Legion closer to the old orders of chivalry,^[7] and since the ordinance of 26 March 1816 the word names the grade above officer in an order.^[2][9] In the West Indian colonies it was from 1741 the overseer who had charge of the slaves on a plantation.^[2][10][9] Commandeur des croyants, the title of the caliphs, is still borne by the king of Morocco.^[11][3]

Timeline

• 1167–1170 – Comandere “chief” in Gautier d'Arras.^[2]
• 1260 – Commandeor, a knight of a military order.^[2][6]
• 1611 – Cotgrave still records the general sense “one who commands”.^[2]
• before 1704 – Commandeur des croyants, the title of the caliphs.^[11]
• 1741 – Savary des Bruslons records the overseer of a plantation.^[2][9]
• 1816 – A royal ordinance makes it a grade above officer in an order of chivalry.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A knight of a military or hospitaller order who held a commanderie: commandeur de Malte.^[11][5][3]
2. La statue du Commandeur: in the Don Juan story, the statue of the slain commander; figuratively, an avenging figure of fate.^[11][5]
3. A grade above officer in an order of chivalry, especially the Légion d'honneur: elle a été promue commandeur.^[11][9][3]
4. (history) Commandeur des croyants: the title of the caliphs, still borne by the king of Morocco.^[11][3]
5. (history) The overseer of the slaves on a plantation in the West Indies.^[9][10][3]

Related words

• commander
• commanderie
• commandant
• commandement
• Latin commendō

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
5. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 949b
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert