déficient

Forms

déficient (feminine déficiente, masculine plural déficients, feminine plural déficientes)^[2] First recorded in the Latin form deficiens.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēficiēns (“lacking”), the present participle of dēficiō (“to be lacking”).^[3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from dē-, a prefix of separation and stopping, and faciō (“to do, make”),^[5][6] and also meant “to separate oneself from, cease” and “to abandon”.^[5][7] The same verb gave déficit.^[4][8]

The TLFi dates it to 1290, still in its Latin form, in Drouart la Vache's Livre d'Amours;^[3] the DHLF, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert follow that date.^[4][6][1] Bloch and Wartburg give 1587 and the GLLF 1586, in Crespet.^[9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record (1290) uses the Latin form deficiens, meaning “lacking, deficient”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the word meant insufficient, lacking in quantity or quality, close to déficitaire and, in some contexts, défectueux.^[3][4] In arithmetic a nombre déficient is a number larger than the sum of its divisors: 10 is one, since 1, 2 and 5 make only 8.^[10][3] Philosophy speaks of a cause déficiente, one that acts by its absence.^[3][7]

In the 20th century the word was specialized in medicine, biology and psychology for an organ, a function or a faculty that shows a deficiency,^[3][5][7] and it became a noun for a person with a mental, motor or sensory impairment.^[4] The noun déficience was formed late by a change of suffix, first recorded in Bergson before 1908 (1907 in Bloch and Wartburg), perhaps after Late Latin dēficientia.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1290 – Deficiens appears in Drouart la Vache's Livre d'Amours.^[3][4]
• 1586 – Crespet uses it in the sense “lacking”.^[5]
• 1873 – Littré records nombre déficient as a term of arithmetic.^[10]
• 1907 – The noun déficience is recorded.^[9][4]
• 1932 – The Académie française includes the word in its dictionary.^[3]
• 20th century – It becomes a term of pathology for a physical or mental deficiency.^[7][5]
• 1980s – The compound immunodéficience spreads in medicine.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Insufficient, showing a lack or gaps: une analyse déficiente.^[1][7]
2. Déficient en: lacking in a substance.^[3]
3. (medicine, psychology) Showing a deficiency in physical or mental development or functioning.^[1][5][3]
4. (mathematics) Nombre déficient: a deficient number, one greater than the sum of its divisors.^[3][10]

Noun

1. A person with a physical, sensory or mental impairment: les déficients visuels.^[1][11][4]

Word family

• déficience

Related words

• déficit
• déficitaire
• défectueux
• faire
• immunodéficience
• Latin dēficiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
8. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org