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départemental

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Etymology and origin of the French word départemental

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1790 La Société des Jacobins More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origins
Old French departir,-mentFrench -al
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French département
Italian dipartimento
Romanian departament
French départemental
English departmental

Pronunciation

  • /de.paʁ.tə.mɑ̃.tal/[1]

Forms

départemental (feminine départementale, masculine plural départementaux, feminine plural départementales)[1]

Etymology

It is from French département + -al.[2][3][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1790, in the papers of the Jacobin Club, for what concerns the département, the administrative unit of France.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The GLLF dates it to 1792.[6] It produced départementalisation (1930) and départementaliser (about 1950).[5] English departmental (1791) was first used of the French departments.[7]

Timeline

  • 1790 – First recorded, in the documents of the Jacobin Club.[2]
  • 1791 – English departmental is recorded.[7]
  • 1930 – The noun départementalisation appears.[5]
  • c. 1950 – The verb départementaliser appears.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Departmental: of, belonging to or run by a département: le budget départemental.[4][2][8]
  2. Route départementale: a road maintained by the département.[4]

Noun

  1. Une départementale: a departmental road.[4]

Word family

  • départementaliser
  • départementalisation

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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Départemental.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9partemental. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·