Etymologically
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coterie

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ.tʁi/[1]

Forms

coterie f (plural coteries)[1]

Etymology

It is formed with the suffix -erie on the stem of cotier (about 1283), a feudal term for a peasant holding a small tenure or for the rent paid on it, preceded by Medieval Latin coteria (Rouen, 1255) and coterius (Domesday Book, 1086).[2][3][4] Cotier comes from an Old French word for “hut”, reconstructed from Norman place names such as Vaucottes, as well as from the derivative cotin (“little house”),[2][3][5] which goes back to Frankish *kot (“hut”) in eastern Normandy and Picardy and to the matching Old Norse kot in western Normandy.[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg give only the Norse source;[5] Wiktionary derives the Medieval Latin word from Old English cot.[1] The same Germanic word is behind English cottage.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are Picard customary law: Medieval Latin coteria “small rural tenure” (1255) and French terre tenue en coterie (1376), land held by a non-noble tenure.[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy it came to mean the association of peasants holding such land together from the same lord (Cotgrave, 1611).[2][3] About the middle of the 17th century it spread to any circle of people who meet familiarly or support each other's interests (Oudin, 1660);[2][3][8] La Bruyère uses it, and the Académie in 1694 has il est de sa coterie.[8] The pejorative sense “clique” is explicit by 1808, when Hautel calls it a term of contempt for a band of intriguers,[2] though the neutral sense lived on, as in Proust's petite coterie of the Verdurins.[3]

Timeline

  • 1086 – Medieval Latin coterius in the Domesday Book.[2][4]
  • 1255 – Coteria “small tenure” at Rouen.[2][4]
  • 1376 – Terre tenue en coterie.[2][3]
  • 1611 – An association of peasant tenants (Cotgrave).[2][4]
  • 1660 – A circle of familiar acquaintances (Oudin).[2][8]
  • 1808 – Explicitly pejorative.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (pejorative) A clique, a small group supporting each other's interests: coterie littéraire.[9][2]
  2. (literary) A circle of people who meet familiarly.[8][2]
  3. (feudal history) A peasant community holding land from a lord; land held by such a tenure.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert