consultatif

Forms

consultatif (feminine consultative, masculine plural consultatifs, feminine plural consultatives)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation from French consulter + -atif.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is from Latin cōnsultō, a word that meant both “to consult” and “to deliberate”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the feminine in 1608, in J. Du Sin's translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric.^[2] It was a legal term for a body able to give opinions but not to decide or vote.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Formed in the 17th century, the adjective kept its legal and administrative use: a comité consultatif or assemblée consultative gives advice but has no power of decision, the opposite of a deliberative body.^[6][2][7] Avoir voix consultative is to have the right to give one's opinion but not to vote, and à titre consultatif means “for advice only”.^[2][4][8]

Timeline

• 1608 – First record, in J. Du Sin's translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric.^[2][5]
• 1660 – Consultable, another 17th-century derivative of consulter, appears.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Advisory, consultative: set up to give opinions without the power to decide: comité consultatif, assemblée consultative.^[7][2][1]
2. Avoir voix consultative: to have the right to give one's opinion but not to vote.^[7][2][8]
3. À titre consultatif: for advice only.^[7][4]

Related words

• consulter
• consultation
• délibératif

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette