complexe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃.plɛks/^[1]

Forms

complexe (plural complexes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin complexus (“made of interwoven elements”),^[2][3][4][5] the past participle of complector (“to embrace, encompass”), from com- and plectō (“to plait, interweave”).^[3][6]

The psychoanalytic sense is a calque of German Komplex, a term first used by the physiologist Josef Breuer (1895) and then by Jung and Freud (“Ödipuskomplex”, 1909–1910).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use, in Jean Le Fèvre's La Vieille (14th century), is isolated and its sense unclear (Complexion est sans complexe).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was taken up in the 16th century for what is made of different elements (complixe querelle, 1564),^[2][3] and became a term of logic (vérité complexe, 1652, Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1667) and of mathematics (nombre complexe).^[2][4][3] In everyday use it has drawn close to compliqué “complicated”.^[3][7]

As a noun meaning “whole, aggregate” it is found in physiology in 1781, and Claudel used it for a group of industries in 1918.^[2][3] The psychological sense is recorded in 1906,^[8] and spread with Freudian psychoanalysis (complexe d'Œdipe);^[3] complexe d'infériorité was in common use by 1930, and faire des complexes “to feel inferior” by 1960.^[2][3] The noun complexité dates from 1755.^[4]

Timeline

• 14th century – An isolated use in Le Fèvre.^[2]
• 1564 – Complixe querelle.^[2]
• 1652 – Vérité complexe in logic.^[2]
• 1755 – Complexité.^[4][3]
• 1781 – The noun “aggregate” in physiology.^[2]
• 1906 – A psychic complexe.^[8]
• 1918 – An industrial complexe in Claudel.^[2]
• 1930 – Complexe d'infériorité in Morand.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Complex, made of several different parts: un problème complexe.^[7][9]
2. Complicated, hard to grasp.^[7][10]
3. (mathematics) Nombre complexe: a complex number, with a real and an imaginary part.^[7][9]
4. (grammar) Phrase complexe: a sentence of several clauses.^[10][7]

Noun

1. (psychology) A complex: complexe d'Œdipe, (familiar) a feeling of inferiority: avoir des complexes.^[10][3]
2. A group of buildings or industries: complexe sportif, complexe industriel.^[2][1]
3. (chemistry) A complex compound.^[1]

Word family

• complexité
• complexé
• complexer
• décomplexer
• complexifier

Related words

• complexion
• complice
• Latin complector
• English complex

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 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 h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 984a
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)