défunt

Forms

défunt (feminine défunte, masculine plural défunts, feminine plural défuntes)^[1] Old French defuns (1243) and, as a noun, deffuntz (1300–50).^[2][3] Middle French defunct.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēfūnctus (“dead”),^[2][4][5] the past participle of dēfungor (“to discharge fully, to finish”), used with vīta (“life”) understood: properly “who has completed his life”.^[2][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from dē-, marking completion, and fungor (“to perform, to discharge”).^[4][3] Latin could also say fūnctus and effūnctus for “dead”.^[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan defunct, Spanish difunto and Italian defunto.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as the adjective defuns “dead” in a document of 1243.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning the word was a euphemism and an administrative term for mort “dead”; it was used as a noun by the first half of the 14th century, in the customs of Lille.^[4][2] The figurative sense “gone, vanished”, applied to things, is found in Baudelaire (1857).^[7]

It gave the verb défunter “to die” (1739), used in northern France and in Anjou, French-speaking Switzerland and Provence.^[4]

Timeline

• 1243 – The adjective defuns is recorded.^[2]
• 1300–50 – The noun deffuntz appears in the customs of Lille.^[2]
• 1739 – The verb défunter “to die” is recorded.^[4]
• 1857 – Baudelaire uses it figuratively of feelings.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary or formal) Of a person: dead, deceased, late: son défunt mari.^[8][1][2]
2. (figurative) Of a thing, an era or a custom: gone, bygone, defunct.^[8][1][7]

Noun

1. A dead person; the deceased.^[8][1][6]

Word family

• défunter

Related words

• Latin defunctus

Usage notes

Placed before a noun with a possessive, as in défunt son frère, it is dated or regional, like feu.^[8]

References

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