Etymologically
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concret

Etymology and origin of the French word concret

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1508–1517, Fossetier
Borrowed from
Latin concretus
Ultimate origin
Latin (crēscō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ̃.kʁɛ/[1]

Forms

concret (feminine concrète, masculine plural concrets, feminine plural concrètes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin concrētus (“grown together, solidified; thick, solid”),[2][3][4][5] the past participle of concrēscō (“to grow together; to solidify”), from com- and crēscō (“to grow”), the source of croître.[3][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan concret, Spanish concreto and Italian concreto.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fossetier's Chronique margaritique (1508–1517) has it in the Latin sense “of thick consistency, solid”;[2][3] Paré writes La liqueur demeure concrette et glacée.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

This sense survives only as a noun in perfumery, un concret de jasmin.[3][8] The modern sense “real, tangible”, opposed to abstrait, appears in the 17th century in philosophy and is recorded by Trévoux in 1704;[2][3] grammar and logic speak of termes concrets and noms concrets.[6][9] At the end of the 19th century it took the senses “precise, practical” (des avantages concrets) and, of a person, “down-to-earth”.[9][8]

Musique concrète (1949) is music made from recorded sounds.[3] The verb concrétiser (1890) “to make effective” and the adverb concrètement (1927) are recent.[3]

Timeline

  • 1508–1517 – “Solid” in Fossetier.[2]
  • 1537 – Concrétion.[4]
  • 1704 – “Real, tangible”, in Trévoux.[2]
  • 1890 – Concrétiser.[3]
  • 1927 – Concrètement.[3]
  • 1949 – Musique concrète.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Concrete, real, perceptible by the senses, opposed to abstract: nom concret.[8][10]
  2. Precise, practical, tangible: un exemple concret, des avantages concrets.[8][9]
  3. Of a person, down-to-earth, practical-minded.[8][9]
  4. Musique concrète: music built from recorded sounds.[3][8]
  5. (dated) Solid, thick: huile concrète.[8][7]

Noun

  1. Le concret: what is concrete: aller du concret à l'abstrait.[11]
  2. (perfumery) A solid extract of plant scents.[7][3]

Word family

  • concréter
  • concrétiser
  • concrètement
  • concrétisation
  • concrétion
  • croître
  • abstrait
  • Latin concrēscō
  • English concrete

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 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, 1014a
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Concret.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/concret. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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