consulat

Forms

consulat m (plural consulats)^[1] Old French consolat (1246) and consolet (about 1268); the learned spelling consulat appears in the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsulātus (“office and dignity of a consul”), from cōnsul.^[2][3][4] In Medieval Latin the word was used from 1141 for the office of a municipal magistrate in the towns of southern France and Italy, which is the first French sense.^[2][3] The early forms consolat and consolet were remade on the Latin spelling about 1355.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as consolat in 1246, in the registers of the Parlement, for the office of a municipal consul.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the senses of consul.^[3] From the medieval municipal office (1246) it passed to the office of the consuls of ancient Rome (about 1268, in Brunetto Latini's Trésor) and to the period of their office.^[2][3] The municipal sense, still known from the towns of southern France before 1790, is now historical.^[5]

In 1690 Furetière records the office of a consul representing his country abroad.^[2] From there the word came to name the consul's offices, where one goes for a visa.^[6][7] In 1799 the Constitution of the Year VIII gave the name Consulat to the government of the three consuls, and to the period it lasted, until 1804.^[2][3][6] Littré also notes consulat de la mer, the title of the maritime code attributed to the Catalans.^[7]

Timeline

• 1246 – Consolat, the office of a municipal consul.^[2]
• c. 1268 – Consolet, the office of a Roman consul, in Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• c. 1355 – The learned spelling consulat.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the office of a consul abroad.^[2][3]
• 1799 – Consulat becomes the name of the French government of the Year VIII.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Roman history) The office and dignity of a consul, and its term.^[6][2][7]
2. (French history) The Consulate, the government of three consuls set up by the Constitution of the Year VIII, and its period (1799–1804).^[6][5]
3. The office of a consul in a foreign city: Il a obtenu le consulat de Marseille.^[6][5][7]
4. A consulate, the offices run by a consul: Il faut passer au consulat pour faire renouveler son passeport.^[6][7]
5. (historical) The office or body of consuls in the towns of southern France before 1790.^[5][2]

Related words

• consul
• consulaire
• proconsul
• vice-consulat
• Latin cōnsulātus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette