Etymologically
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dessein

Etymology and origin of the French word dessein

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
15th century, Chronicles of the canons of Neuchâtel

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /de.sɛ̃/[1]

Forms

dessein m (plural desseins)[1] Desseing (15th century), desain (1548), desseing (Ronsard, 1552, Montaigne).[2][3]

Etymology

It is the noun of “des(s)eigner”, the old form of dessiner, which in the 16th century also meant “to plan”, after its source Italian disegnare (with this sense since the 15th century);[2][4][5][6] the Grand Robert stresses the influence of Italian “disegno”.[7] The verb goes back to Latin dēsignāre (“to mark out”).[1] dessin is a doublet, and so is English design.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chroniques des chanoines de Neuchâtel (15th century) have desseing “plan”; a record of about 1265 comes from an 18th-century copy in modernised style and must be set aside.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Until the end of the 18th century dessein was more common than dessin in both senses, “plan” and “drawing”, Richelet (1680) condemned the spelling dessin for the painter's term.[4][7] It then kept only “plan, intention”, mostly in the plural and in a formal register (les desseins de la Providence).[4][8] À dessein “on purpose” is used as an adverb and à dessein de (17th century) as a preposition.[4] In Quebec French sans-dessein “idiot”, from a Normandy sense of dessein “wits, sense”, is common.[4]

Timeline

  • 15th century – Desseing “plan”.[2]
  • 1548 – Desain in Marguerite de Navarre.[2]
  • 1549 – Desing, the later dessin.[4]
  • 1552 – Desseing in Ronsard.[2]
  • 1680 – Richelet condemns dessin.[4]
  • Late 18th century – Restricted to “plan”.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (literary) A plan, design, intention: former le dessein de partir, de noirs desseins.[8][1]
  2. À dessein: on purpose, deliberately.[8][9]
  3. Avoir des desseins sur qqn: to have designs on someone.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 53b
  7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Dessein.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/dessein. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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