décès

Forms

décès m (invariable)^[1] Old French decès, also decet (12th century) and deciès (13th century).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēcessus (“departure, withdrawal, death”),^[3][4][5][6] formed from dēcēdō (“to go away, die”), from dē- and cēdō (“to go”).^[4][7] The Latin verb was used especially in a phrase for leaving life, that is, dying.^[4] Wiktionary instead treats it as inherited through Old French.^[1] The verb décéder was borrowed from Latin only in the 14th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis: Puis mun decès en fusses enoret “after my death you would have been honoured by it”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old French it meant the death of a person, and it has kept this sense, chiefly in administrative and legal language.^[4][3] The acte de décès is drawn up by the registrar of the commune where the death took place; formerly deaths were entered in the church registers.^[3] It gave the prefixed prédécès (1690), mostly a term of inheritance law.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Decès appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3][2]
• 14th century – The verb décéder is borrowed.^[4]
• 1690 – Prédécès is first recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law, administration) The death of a person: l'annonce du décès, acte de décès, faire-part de décès.^[8][3][5]

Word family

• prédécès

Related words

• décéder
• prédécesseur
• Latin dēcessus

Usage notes

Littré notes that the final ⟨s⟩ is sounded in liaison: un décès inattendu.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 24a
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert