démonstrateur

Forms

démonstrateur m (plural démonstrateurs, feminine démonstratrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēmōnstrātor (“one who shows, one who demonstrates”),^[2][3][4] formed on the supine of dēmōnstrō (“to show, to demonstrate”).^[4][5][3] The same Latin noun had already given Old French demostreor or demonstreor at the end of the 13th century.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg note a first isolated use in the 14th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicot records it in 1606 for “one who demonstrates”.^[2][3] The Grand Larousse instead dates the sense to 1495, in Jean de Vignay.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century it named a teacher who showed his subject in practice; the Trévoux supplement of 1752 calls Jussieu a démonstrateur de plantes at the Jardin royal.^[2] This sense of someone who performs experiments or dissections before an audience, frequent in anatomy and botany, has gone out of use.^[3][7][2] The current sense of a person who shows how a product works in order to sell it is a 20th-century one, dated 1965 by the Petit Robert.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1606 – Nicot records demonstrateur “one who demonstrates”.^[2][3]
• 1743 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word in continuous use.^[6]
• 1752 – The Trévoux supplement uses it for a teacher of botany at the Jardin royal.^[2][3]
• 1965 – First record of the sense “salesperson who demonstrates a product”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A person who demonstrates a truth or teaches a science by showing it, formerly a title at the botanical garden and in anatomy.^[2][7][5]
2. A person who shows how a device or process works.^[8]
3. A salesperson who shows the use and advantages of a product in a shop or in the street to sell it.^[8][9][5]

Related words

• démontrer
• démonstration
• démonstratif
• Latin dēmōnstrātor

References

1. ^ a b 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 c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)