désordre

Forms

désordre m (plural désordres)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French dés- + ordre.^[2][3][1] Rey describes it as made from the noun to match the pair ordonner and désordonner.^[4] The noun is from Latin ōrdō (“row, rank, class”), taken from its oblique cases.^[5] Littré notes that Old French also had desordonement and desordonance.^[6]

Cognate with Occitan desorde, Spanish desorden, Portuguese desordem and Italian disordine.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 12th century, in a manuscript of the early 13th, in Nicole's French Règle de saint Benoît, meaning an act against the monastic rule.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The monastic sense disappeared, but the idea of a breach of the established order spread to social life: in the plural, désordres meant disturbances or riots in 1377,^[2][4][7] a date the Robert dictionaries gloss as “quarrel”.^[3][8] In 1535 Olivétan's Bible used it for loose living, a sense still found in literary French.^[2][4][7]

Under the influence of ordre, the word also came to mean simply a lack of tidiness, things out of place: Palsgrave has mettre en désordre in 1530.^[2][4] Classical French also used it for the breaking of a body of troops and for confusion of the mind,^[7] and older usage applied it to a disorder of the body's functions.^[7]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – First record, “act against the monastic rule”, in Nicole's Règle de saint Benoît.^[2]
• 1377 – Désordres “disturbances” in the archives of Reims.^[2][7]
• 1530 – Palsgrave records mettre en désordre “to put out of order”.^[2]
• 1535 – Olivétan's Bible uses it for immoral conduct.^[2][4]
• 1682 – La Fontaine uses it for a disorder of the body's functions.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lack of order, an untidy state: things out of place, a mess: sa chambre est en désordre.^[8][2][1]
2. Confusion or lack of organisation in affairs or in an institution: le désordre des finances.^[7][6]
3. A disturbance of the mind or feelings;^[7] (classical) inner turmoil.^[7]
4. (literary) Loose or dissolute living.^[7][2]
5. (in the plural) Public disturbances, riots.^[7][2]
6. (dated) A disorder of the body's functions: désordre intestinal.^[7]

Related words

• ordre
• désordonné
• désordonner
• contrordre
• Latin ōrdō

Usage notes

In older poetics, Littré notes, désordre could be praised: the digressions of lyric poetry that the poet's passion excuses.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d 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 j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert