délégation

Forms

délégation f (plural délégations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēlēgātiō (“assignment, delegation”), a noun formed on the supine of dēlēgō (“to delegate”).^[2][3][4][5] The TLFi and the DHLF date the borrowing to the 13th century,^[2][5] the GLLF to about 1300, in the customs of Artois.^[4] Wiktionary also allows a French formation from déléguer with the suffix -ation beside the Latin source.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the customs of Artois (13th century), already has the legal sense of entrusting a power or a task to someone who acts in another's place.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the word stayed in the language of law and administration: the act by which someone holding a power hands it to another, and the commission under which that person acts.^[4][5] A 16th-century text quoted by Littré speaks of the pope giving a rescript or delegation to judges of the kingdom.^[6] In civil law it also names the act by which a debtor has a third person pay his creditor, and in the army and navy a share of pay assigned to a soldier's or sailor's family.^[6][7]

From 1878 the word was used for the group of people delegated to represent others, now its most common sense.^[4][7] Like délégué, it entered many institutional names in the 20th century, for public bodies in France and for the official representations of Quebec and of the French Community of Belgium abroad.^[5][7] In the French of Tunisia a délégation is an administrative subdivision of a governorate.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – First recorded in the customs of Artois.^[2][4]
• 16th century – Pierre Pithou writes of a papal rescript or delegation.^[6]
• 1878 – The Larousse records the sense “group of delegates”.^[4]
• 20th century – Délégation becomes the name of various public bodies.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of delegating someone or something: handing a power, a function or a task to another person.^[7][8][9]
2. The commission that gives someone the right to act on another's behalf: agir par délégation.^[7][4]
3. (law) An operation by which a debtor has a third person take on the debt to his creditor.^[7][8]
4. A group of people delegated to represent others, a delegation: recevoir une délégation de syndicalistes.^[7][9][8]
5. The name of certain public bodies, such as an administrative commission.^[8][7]

Related words

• déléguer
• délégué
• Latin dēlēgātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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 d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)