dictateur

Forms

dictateur m (plural dictateurs, feminine dictatrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dictātor, the name of the Roman magistrate given full powers in a crisis, first unchanged (1213) and then in its French form (before 1380).^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed on dictum, the supine of dictō (“to dictate”) (see dicter).^[3][5][6] Littré glosses the verb as “to command”, properly “to dictate”.^[7]

Littré compares Old Occitan dictaire (from the Latin nominative) beside dictador (from the accusative), and Italian dettatore.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Faits des Romains (1213) use dictator of the Roman magistrate.^[2][6] Pierre Bersuire's translation of Livy (before 1380) has the French form: Il fesoient aucune fois un dittateur qui avoit si general et si grant pooir (“at times they made a dictator who had such general and such great power”).^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Taken up as a term of Roman history, the word was soon extended to anyone who wields absolute authority: Marnix uses it ironically in 1599, and Saint-Simon has it before 1755.^[2][3] The modern political sense, a person who has seized power and uses it without check, appears during the Revolution, in Marat (1790);^[2][3] the figurative sense is now felt as an extension of this one.^[3] The feminine dictatrice is rare and recorded from 1927.^[3]

The adjective dictatorial was formed on the stem of the noun at the end of the 18th century, on the model of sénateur / sénatorial.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1213 – Dictator appears in the Faits des Romains.^[2]
• before 1380 – Bersuire's Livy has dictateur.^[2][3]
• 1599 – Marnix uses it ironically of a person with absolute authority.^[2]
• 1777 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for dictatorial.^[4]
• 1790 – Marat uses it of one who holds all political power.^[2][3]
• 1927 – The feminine dictatrice is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Roman history) Under the Republic, an extraordinary magistrate given unlimited powers for a set time in a crisis.^[2][8]
2. A ruler who has seized power and exercises it without control, an autocrat or tyrant: un dictateur sanguinaire.^[8][2]
3. (figurative) A domineering person: faire le dictateur, un ton de dictateur.^[8][7]

Word family

• dictatorial
• dictatorialement

Related words

• dictature
• dicter
• Latin dictātor

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert