détriment

Forms

détriment m (plural détriments)^[1] Old French detriement.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dētrīmentum (“a rubbing away, wear, loss, damage”), from the supine of dēterō (“to wear away by rubbing”), a compound of dē- and terō (“to rub, wear, grind”).^[2][3][4][5] Rey traces the verb to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ter-, of wearing away by turning and rubbing, seen also in trier and détritus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as detriement in 1236, in the Livre blanc of Valenciennes, meaning damage or harm.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word came into French with the figurative sense of the Latin, “serious damage, harm”.^[3] Modern usage limits it almost entirely to the prepositional phrase au détriment de (15th century), preceded by en détriment de (1383).^[3][2][5] Older French also used the plural in the concrete sense “debris”, taken up in geology by Buffon (1778) and now replaced by détritus.^[3][5][4] In astrology a planet was said to be en son détriment when it stood in the sign opposite its house.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1236 – First recorded as detriement, in the Livre blanc of Valenciennes.^[2][3]
• 1383 – En detriment de in a document from Reims.^[2][5]
• 15th century – Au detriment de la chose publicque in the statutes of the tanners of Coulommiers.^[2][5]
• 1778 – Buffon uses the plural for debris.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated or literary) Damage, harm, material or moral loss.^[7][2][6]
2. Au détriment de, à son détriment: to the disadvantage of, at the expense of: Il a avancé au détriment de ses collègues.^[7][2][8]
3. (astrology) The position of a planet in the sign opposite its own house.^[6][5]
4. (obsolete, in the plural) Fragments, debris.^[4][5]

Related words

• détritus
• triturer
• Latin dētrīmentum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)