communal

Forms

communal (feminine communale, masculine plural communaux, feminine plural communales)^[1] Old French cumunel, comunal, cuminel.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include cominal, communel, comunal and cumunal.^[4]

Etymology

In its old sense “general, common to all” it is formed from French commun + -al.^[2][5][6] In the sense “of the commune” it is borrowed from Medieval Latin commūnālis (“belonging to the community”),^[2][1] a word used in the imperial period for common lands, which Medieval Latin applied to goods held jointly (910–927), to what belonged to a village's inhabitants (11th century) and to what belonged to a commune (13th century).^[2] This adjective is from Latin commūne (“common property”), the neuter of the adjective that gave commun.^[2][1] Rey describes the change as the adjective falling under the attraction of the noun commune by a semantic and formal borrowing from the Latin word.^[3]

Cognate with Walloon kimonez “common lands”, Old Occitan comunal, Spanish comunal and Italian comunale.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as cumunel in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), in estre cumunel “to act together, be unanimous”: tuit en sunt cumunel “they all take part”.^[2][7] About 1170 Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses comunal for “general”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “general” was felt as a needless doublet of commun;^[3] some dictionaries still recorded it, as old, until 1892.^[2] The new sense “relating to the commune” is found as cuminel in a charter of 1208, and the noun communal “communal property” about 1315.^[2] The plural noun communaux “the lands of a commune” is in Furetière (1690).^[2][8]

In Belgian and Luxembourg French it is used for “municipal”, as in maison communale “town hall” and conseil communal.^[3][2] In familiar use la communale is the local state primary school, short for école communale.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Cumunel appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1121–1125 – The earliest Anglo-Norman record.^[4]
• c. 1170 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses comunal for “general”.^[2]
• 1208 – Cuminel “of the commune” in a charter of Montiéramey.^[2]
• c. 1315 – The noun communal “communal property”.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the noun.^[8]
• 1690 – Furetière records communaux “common lands”.^[2][8]
• 1866 – The adverb communalement is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to a commune or to all its inhabitants: un chemin communal, des bois communaux.^[9][2][10]
2. Concerning a commune: le budget communal.^[2][9]
3. (Belgium) Municipal: conseil communal, maison communale “town hall”.^[2][9]

Noun

1. La communale (familiar, dated): the commune's primary school, the école communale.^[2][9][10]
2. Les communaux (masculine plural): the lands of a commune, used in common by its inhabitants.^[9][2][7]

Word family

• communalement
• communalisme

Related words

• commun
• commune
• communauté
• communément
• Latin commūnālis

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 k l m n o p q r s t u v 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)