dignitaire

Forms

dignitaire m (plural dignitaires)^[1] An earlier form dignitère is recorded in 1525.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French dignité + -aire, on its stem.^[4][2][1] dignité is from Latin dignitās, from dignus (“worthy”).^[5] Picoche places the Latin adjective in the family of an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to be fitting”), also seen in decet (“it is fitting”) and decus (“seemliness”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from Piganiol de La Force's Description de la France (1718), cited by the Trévoux dictionary of 1752, for a person holding a high rank or office.^[4][7] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date the word only from the Trévoux dictionary of 1752.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense of a person invested with a dignity, a high rank in an official hierarchy of the State, the army or the Church.^[9][3] Under the First Empire the grands dignitaires de l'Empire were the six holders of the highest offices of state.^[10] In religious communities it was also used in the feminine for the nuns holding the chief offices, a use recorded by Littré in 1864.^[8][10]

Timeline

• 1525 – The form dignitère is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1718 – Dignitaire appears in Piganiol de La Force's Description de la France.^[4]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records it.^[5][8]
• 1864 – Littré records the feminine use for nuns holding the chief offices of a community.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dignitary: a person holding a dignité or high rank in an official hierarchy (state, army, Church): un haut dignitaire de l'armée.^[3][11][4]
2. (dated, feminine) In a religious community, a nun holding one of the chief offices.^[8][10]

Related words

• dignité
• digne
• Latin dignitās
• English dignitary

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)