dénonciation

Forms

dénonciation f (plural dénonciations)^[1] Old French denunciation and denonciation.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēnūntiātiō (“announcement, declaration”),^[3][4][5][6] formed on the supine of dēnūntiō (“to announce, declare”).^[5][6] It is the noun of action of dénoncer.^[4][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan denunciatio, Spanish denunciación and Italian denunziazione.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Brunetto Latini's Livres dou Tresor (about 1268), for the act by which a plaintiff opens a suit, a complaint or accusation.^[3] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it about 1260, the GLLF about 1283, in Beaumanoir.^[5][7][6] Beaumanoir writes par voie de denonciation fete au juge “by way of a complaint made to the judge”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th to the 16th century the word kept the Latin sense “announcement, declaration”, which survives in legal language, but from the first texts it also meant “accusation, complaint”, first in law, then in general use, which is its living sense today.^[4]

Richelet records the sense “informing against someone to the authorities” in 1680, and Furetière defines it in 1690 as a secret accusation made to the magistrate.^[6][3] In law it came to mean the notification of an act to an interested party (1690), and in international law the announcement that a treaty is ended (1888, Larousse).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1260 – The date of first record given by the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert.^[5][7]
• c. 1268 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a plaintiff's complaint.^[3][8]
• c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it in his customary law.^[6][2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense “informing to the authorities”.^[6]
• 1690 – Furetière records it as a secret accusation to a magistrate, and as a legal notification.^[3][6]
• 1888 – Larousse records the sense in international law.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) An official proclamation or announcement.^[7][3][6]
2. The announcement that an agreement is ended: dénonciation d'un traité.^[7][9][10]
3. (law) The extrajudicial notification of an act to the persons concerned.^[7][9][3]
4. The act of reporting a wrongdoing or a person to the authorities, an accusation or denunciation: dénonciation calomnieuse.^[7][10]
5. A statement or document that denounces someone.^[7][10]

Related words

• dénoncer
• dénonciateur
• Latin dēnūntiātiō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)