découvert

Forms

découvert (feminine découverte, masculine plural découverts, feminine plural découvertes)^[1] Old French descovert.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is the past participle from French découvrir, also used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is from Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”).^[2] Wiktionary takes the participle back to discoopertus, from dis- and coopertus (“covered”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1150 in the Roman de Thèbes in the adverbial phrase a descovert “in the open, unprotected”, used of blows given in a fight.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

As a noun, découvert named open fields and tall forest in a hunting treatise of the late 13th century, and in 1387 open ground without woods, the military sense of ground exposed to the enemy's view.^[2][5][4] Its main use today, in finance, is a deficit or overdraft: the Petit Robert dates it to 1690 and the TLFi to Stendhal in 1817.^[6][2][5] The phrase à découvert is still alive.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – A descovert in the Roman de Thèbes.^[2][5]
• late 13th century – As a noun, open fields and tall forest, in La Chace du cerf.^[2][5]
• 1387 – Jean d'Arras uses it for open ground.^[4][6]
• 1690 – First recorded in finance.^[6]
• 1817 – Stendhal uses it for a deficit.^[2][5]
• 1845 – Bescherelle has découvert du Trésor.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not covered by clothing, bare: la tête découverte.^[6][7]
2. Not covered by anything, open: une voiture découverte, une allée découverte.^[6][7]
3. À visage découvert: openly, without a mask or disguise.^[6][7]

Noun

1. Open ground without trees, especially ground exposed to the enemy's view.^[2][4][6]
2. (banking) An overdraft, the amount by which a debt or expense exceeds the funds available: Il doit combler son découvert.^[6][2][1]
3. (public finance) A budget deficit: découvert budgétaire.^[2][6]
4. (insurance) The part of a loss left to the insured, or the value of a thing above what is covered.^[2][6]
5. (stock exchange) A forward deal in which one buys without paying at once or sells without owning.^[2]
6. (mining) The layer of ground over a deposit that must be cleared before working it.^[2]
7. À découvert: bare, in the open, without anything between the eye and the thing, or without protection.^[2][4]

Word family

• découverte

Related words

• découvrir
• couvert

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette