communication

Forms

communication f (plural communications)^[1] Old and Middle French communicacion.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman communicacioun.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin commūnicātiō (“sharing, exchange of words, imparting”), formed on the supine of commūnicō (“to share, impart”).^{[4][5][6][7][8]} It was borrowed at the end of the 13th or start of the 14th century.^[4][5] Wiktionary describes the modern word as inherited from Old French communicacion.^[1] Littré compares Spanish comunicación and Italian comunicazione.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record, from the late 13th or early 14th century, is a glossary entry giving communications as “ways of being together”.^[4][5] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the word from the third quarter of the 13th century, for handing over, dealings and the rite of shared bread.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Oresme used it (about 1370) for relations between people, social intercourse.^[4][5][2] By metonymy it came to mean a thing communicated, as in talks or discussions (1507), and avoir communication de something meant to be shown it (before 1615).^[4][5] Special uses followed in theology (communication avec Dieu, Pascal, before 1662), law, medicine and physics (electricity in 1746, communication du mouvement in 1753).^[4][5] In 1677 Miège used it for a passage linking two places.^[4]

In the 20th century the word, like the verb communiquer, spread in the field of advertising and the media, under the influence of English communication; in business it also covers the passing of information between departments.^[5]

Timeline

• 1275–1325 – A glossary gives communications as “ways of being together”.^[4]
• c. 1370 – Oresme uses it for social relations.^[4][2]
• 1507 – Used for talks, negotiations.^[4][5]
• before 1615 – Avoir communication de is recorded in Pasquier.^[4]
• before 1662 – Pascal writes of communication avec Dieu.^[4][5]
• 1677 – Miège uses it for a link between two places.^[4]
• 1746 – Used of electricity.^[5]
• 1753 – Communication du mouvement appears in the Encyclopédie.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or fact of communicating, of being in contact with someone: rester en communication avec sa famille.^[9][10][11]
2. (sciences) The exchange of signs and messages between a sender and a receiver.^[9]
3. The act of passing something on, and the thing passed on: la communication d'un dossier, une communication urgente.^[9][7][11]
4. A paper read to a learned society or a conference.^[11][7]
5. A telephone call, a connection between two callers.^[11][10]
6. A link or passage between places: les voies de communication.^[11][4]
7. The public relations and media work of a firm or institution.^[5][10]

Related words

• communiquer
• commun
• communion
• Latin commūnicātiō
• English communication

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 960b
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)