congé

Forms

congé m (plural congés)^[1] Old French cumgiet (about 980), congiet (about 1050), cunged (about 1130) and congié.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French congié, inherited from Latin commeātus (“a going, leave, passage”).^[3][2][4] Rey describes it as the regular phonetic outcome of the Latin word.^[2] The Latin noun is from commeō (“to go, travel”), a compound of meō (“to pass, go”).^[2][5] It had taken concrete senses such as the transport of goods and a supply convoy, and in military language passed from “marching order” to “permission to leave”.^[2][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan comjat and Catalan comiat.^[7] Italian congedo was itself borrowed from French.^[2] The architectural sense is a separate semantic borrowing from the Latin noun in its sense “passage” (1676).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record, cumgiet in the Vie de saint Léger (10th century), means permission to go away, and prendre congiet is found in the Vie de saint Alexis about 1050.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From permission to leave, the word moved to permission in general (about 1130), used especially of parents' consent to a marriage, which survived regionally.^[2][3] Donner congé (1265–1266) could mean, by euphemism, to dismiss someone.^[2][3]

It entered working life and the army as leave of absence, and today is the term of labour law: congés payés (1936), long used scornfully by conservatives for the workers who received them.^[2] In law it also kept the Latin sense of a permit for transporting goods (1602).^[2][3] The verb congédier (1409) grew from Old French congeer under the influence of Italian congedo.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Cumgiet in the Vie de saint Léger.^[3][2]
• c. 1050 – Prendre congiet in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• c. 1130 – Permission in general, in the Lois de Guillaume.^[3]
• 1265–1266 – Donner congié “to dismiss”.^[3]
• 1602 – A permit for transporting goods.^[3]
• 1676 – Architectural sense.^[2]
• 1936 – Congés payés.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Permission to leave.^[8][3] Prendre congé: to say goodbye before leaving.^[8][3]
2. Leave of absence from work or service: congé de maladie, congé de maternité, congés payés.^[9][8][10]
3. A holiday, a day or period without classes or work.^[10][1]
4. (law) Notice ending a lease or a contract of employment: donner congé.^[10][2]
5. (law) A permit for transporting goods.^[3][2]
6. (architecture) A concave curve joining a moulding or the end of a column shaft, an apophyge.^[10][1]

Word family

• congédier

Related words

• Latin commeātus

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 946b
5. ^ 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)