développement

Forms

développement m (plural développements)^[1] Middle French desvelopemens (plural), late 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French développer + -ment.^[2][1][3][4] The verb, first desvoleper (about 1170), is made of the prefix des- and Old French voloper (“to wrap”), which Rey traces to the Late Latin word faluppa (“husk of grain”), of obscure origin, influenced by Latin volvō (“to roll, turn”) and by envelopper, of which the verb is the opposite.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded at the end of the 14th century, as the plural desvelopemens, for the unfolding of something rolled up on itself.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare before the 17th century, when it comes into use in geometry and architecture (1694).^[5][2] From 1754 it also had the temporal sense of growing and evolving, used by Charles Bonnet of living things and of the mind.^[2][5][4] In 1789 it meant the detailed exposition of a subject, and in 1862 the working out of a musical theme.^[2][5]

Like the verb, it took special senses in cycling, for the distance covered at each turn of the pedals (1886), and in photography (1890).^[5][6][2] Around 1960, under the influence of English development, it came to mean the development of a product or of an area, a use criticised as an anglicism.^[5]

Timeline

• late 14th century – Desvelopemens is recorded for unfolding.^[2]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records it as a term of architecture.^[2][4]
• 1754 – The Encyclopédie uses it in algebra and geometry.^[2]
• 1754 – Charles Bonnet uses it for growth.^[2]
• 1789 – It means the detailed exposition of a subject.^[2][5]
• 1862 – Berlioz uses it in music.^[2]
• 1886 – It is used of a bicycle's gearing.^[6][5]
• 1890 – It is recorded in photography.^[2][5]
• c. 1960 – It takes senses from English development.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rare) The unrolling or spreading out of something: le développement d'un tapis.^[6][4]
2. (geometry) The flattening of the surface of a solid onto a plane; a net.^[6][1]
3. (mathematics) The expansion of a function as a series or polynomial.^[6]
4. (cycling) The distance a bicycle travels for one full turn of the pedals.^[6][4]
5. (photography) The developing of a film.^[6][2]
6. The growth of an organism or organ.^[6][4]
7. Progress, expansion, especially economic: pays en voie de développement, développement durable.^[6][1]
8. The detailed treatment of a subject;^[2][5] (music) the working out of a theme.^[2][5]
9. The development of a new product or of an area.^[5]

Related words

• envelopper
• English development

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 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 i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert