degré

Forms

degré m (plural degrés)^[1] Old French degret, degré.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French degret, inherited from Vulgar Latin *degradus, formed from dē- and Latin gradus (“step, stair, rank”).^{[3][4][2][5][6]} The TLFi and Rey describe it as a fairly late compound of the Latin noun with the French prefix dé-, perhaps after dēgradō (“to deprive of rank”);^[5][7] Bloch and Wartburg suggest that this verb may also have existed with the sense “to go down”.^[8] The noun comes from gradior (“to step, walk”).^[4][9]

The prefixed form was current in the centre and west of France and won out over the simple gré (also greis), which was used from Wallonia to the Franco-Provençal area, probably because the simple form had become identical in sound with gré “liking, will”, from grātus.^[5][7][3] Compare Romanian grad, Italian grado, Spanish grado, Occitan degra, Catalan grau and Portuguese grau; German Grad is from the same Latin word.^[9][2] grade is a later borrowing of the Latin noun with a narrower sense.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning a staircase: the saint asks to lie suz tun degret, under the stairs of his father's house.^[5][2] The Chanson de Roland (1080 for the GLLF and Rey, about 1100 for the TLFi) uses it for the steps of a stair (par les degrez).^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense “step of a stair” was the main one in Old French, but from the 16th century marche replaced it, and degré was left mostly to figurative senses;^[8][7] “step” is now literary.^[8][7]

From Old French on, the word named a level on a scale: a rank in society or in honours (about 1120), a degree of kinship (about 1220), a level of knowledge (1379), then a university degree (between 1496 and 1507), the rank of a court in the hierarchy of jurisdictions (1549), a degree of nobility (1771) and a stage of schooling, as in Condorcet's five degrés d'instruction (1792).^[5][7] The scientific senses followed Latin: the degree of a circle in geometry and astronomy (about 1265, Brunetto Latini), in geography (16th century), the division of a thermometer or barometer (1685, Furetière), musical pitch (1694) and the strength of alcohol (1814).^[5][7]

From Montaigne (1580) it also meant the intensity of a quality or feeling, hence par degrés “gradually”; it was then used in algebra (1691), and in medicine for the phase of an illness (1800) and the severity of a burn (1823).^[5][7] The recent second degré is a second level of meaning, taken with ironic distance.^[7][9]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Degret “staircase” in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5][2]
• c. 1100 – “Step of a stair” in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• c. 1120 – Philippe de Thaon uses it for a rank in society or in honours.^[5]
• c. 1220 – First recorded as a degree of kinship.^[5][7]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses it in geometry and astronomy.^[5]
• 1496–1507 – Molinet uses it for a university degree.^[5]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it for the intensity of a quality.^[5][4]
• 1685 – Furetière records the degree of a thermometer.^[5]
• 1823 – First recorded of the severity of a burn.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A step of a staircase; in the plural, steps or a flight of stairs: monter les degrés de l'église.^[9][5]
2. A level or position in a hierarchy, a rank: gravir les degrés de la carrière.^[9][5]
3. A stage of schooling: le premier degré (nursery and primary school), le second degré (secondary school).^[9]
4. (law) Degré de juridiction: the place of a court in the judicial hierarchy.^[9][5]
5. A degree of kinship: cousins au second degré.^[5][2]
6. A stage in a development, an intensity: au plus haut degré, par degrés (gradually).^[9][2]
7. (medicine) The severity of a burn: une brûlure du premier degré.^[9][5]
8. A level of interpretation: au premier degré (literally), au second degré (with ironic distance).^[9]
9. A unit of measure: a degree of an angle or of latitude, a degree of temperature, a degree of alcohol.^[9][5][4]
10. (grammar) A degree of comparison of an adjective.^[5]

Related words

• grade
• dégrader
• graduer
• Latin gradus

Usage notes

Richelet's dictionary spelled it dégré, and that pronunciation was often heard, but the Académie condemned it.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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 i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 205a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF