conventionnel

Forms

conventionnel (feminine conventionnelle, masculine plural conventionnels, feminine plural conventionnelles)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin conventiōnālis (“relating to an agreement”), a legal term of Late Latin,^[2][3] from conventiō (“agreement”), from conveniō (“to come together, agree”), from veniō (“to come”).^[4] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert, the GLLF, Bloch and Wartburg and Wiktionary instead treat it as a derivative of convention.^{[5][6][7][8][1]} The sense “of the National Convention” (1792) was formed in French from the same noun in its sense of the revolutionary assembly.^[2][3] Its sense “non-nuclear” (1955) is a calque of the English usage (1952), conventional being itself borrowed from the Latin word.^[2][3]

Littré compares Occitan conventional, Spanish convencional and Italian convenzionale.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1453, in the custom of Touraine, as a legal term meaning “resulting from an agreement”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Like convention, the word passed from law into general use: Rousseau wrote of what is accepted only by agreement in 1762, whence “usual in a given society” and, pejoratively, “commonplace, insincere”.^[2][3][7] Under the Revolution, from 1792, it was used of what concerned the National Convention, then from 1795 as a noun for a member of it; in this sense it has remained a historical term.^[2][3] After the Second World War English conventional took the sense “non-nuclear”, which French borrowed in armement conventionnel.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1453 – First recorded in the custom of Touraine, in law.^[2][7]
• 1762 – Rousseau uses it of what rests on an arbitrary agreement.^[2][7]
• 1792 – Used of what concerns the National Convention.^[2][3]
• 1795 – Mercier uses it as a noun for a member of the Convention.^[2][3]
• 1955 – Armes conventionnelles appears in Le Figaro.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Resulting from an agreement, (law) laid down by the parties rather than by law or by a court: clause conventionnelle.^[6][9][7]
2. Fixed by convention, arbitrary: signe conventionnel.^[6][10]
3. Conforming to social conventions, unnatural or insincere: Elle a des goûts très conventionnels.^[6][10]
4. (military) Not nuclear: armes conventionnelles.^[6][2]
5. (history) Relating to the National Convention of 1792–1795.^[2]

Noun

1. (history) A member of the National Convention, the revolutionary assembly.^[2][11][9]

Word family

• conventionnellement
• conventionnalisme
• conventionnaliste

Related words

• convention
• Late Latin conventiōnālis

Usage notes

The Grand Robert, like the TLFi, makes two headwords: 1 the adjective of 1453, from convention “agreement”, and 2 the noun of 1792, from Convention the assembly.^[5][2] The noun is written with a capital by Larousse when it refers to the National Convention.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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 f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)