créditeur

Forms

créditeur m (plural créditeurs, feminine créditrice)^[1] Old French credeteur (1310).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin crēditor (“creditor, lender”), which is from Latin crēditum (“loan, debt”),^[2] the supine of crēdō (“to believe, entrust”).^[3] Wiktionary gives the chain through Old French creditor and Middle French crediteur.^[1]

The TLFi thinks it probably came from Italian creditore, which had it from 1392.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg list the word of 1723 among the derivatives of crédit and put the Italian influence on the older sense “creditor”;^[4] the Grand Robert and the GLLF take the modern sense from créditer.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as credeteur in 1310, in an archival document quoted by Godefroy, meaning a creditor, someone to whom money is owed.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the word meant “creditor”, the sense now held by créancier:^[4][3] Montaigne wrote of a bon crediteur who had let him off a debt, and Malherbe also used it in that sense.^[6]

In 1723 Savary des Bruslons's dictionary of commerce records the modern sense, a person with sums entered to his credit in the books.^[2][3] The adjective, used of an account, followed in the middle of the 19th century: compte créditeur is in Bescherelle,^[2][3] and the sense of an account whose balance is in credit was recorded by the Académie in 1932.^[3]

Timeline

• 1310 – Credeteur “creditor” is found in an archival document.^[2]
• 16th century – Montaigne uses crediteur for a creditor.^[6]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records the sense “person who is credited”.^[2][5]
• 1846 – Bescherelle has the adjective in compte créditeur.^[2]
• 1932 – The Académie records an account in credit as créditeur.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (finance) A person who has sums entered to his or her crédit in the books or in a bank account.^[7][3][6]

Adjective

1. (of an account) Recording what is owed to someone: compte créditeur.^[7][3]
2. (of an account or balance) In credit, with more entered on the credit side than on the debit side: solde créditeur, mon compte est créditeur depuis lundi.^[2][3][7]

Related words

• crédit
• créditer
• créancier
• débiteur
• Latin crēditor

References

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