Etymologically
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complexe

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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

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)