diplôme

Forms

diplôme m (plural diplômes)^[1] First as diplomat (1617).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin diplōma (“official document, licence”), taken in 1617 in the form ⟨diplomat⟩ “decree”.^[2][3][4] In Classical Latin the word meant letters granting certain rights, and in imperial Latin a warrant or official document.^[2][3] Latin had it from Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (díplōma), literally “a thing doubled”, a tablet or paper folded in two,^[2][3][5] derived from διπλόω (diplóō, “to double”).^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1617 as diplomat, meaning a decree, in a letter of the councillors Garnier and Pelletier to the Archduke Albert.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word next meant a charter, an official document issued by a sovereign authority (1721, the Dictionnaire de Trévoux), a sense that survives among historians;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg date the form diplôme to 1732.^[7] The science of such documents was called diplomatique (1708), after the New Latin diplomaticus of Mabillon's De re diplomatica (1681).^[7][3]

The modern sense, an official document conferring a title or degree, is found in Madame de Staël in 1810;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date the sense of a diploma from a teaching body to 1829.^[7][5] By metonymy the word also came to mean the examination taken to obtain one.^[3][8] The sense gave diplômé (1841) and diplômer (1878).^[3]

Timeline

• 1617 – Diplomat “decree” appears in a letter to the Archduke Albert.^[2]
• 1708 – Diplomatique names the science of charters.^[7]
• 1721 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the sense “charter”.^[2]
• 1732 – The form diplôme is recorded.^[7][5]
• 1810 – Madame de Staël uses it for a document conferring a title or grade.^[2]
• 1829 – Boiste records it for a diploma from a school or faculty.^[5]
• 1841 – The derivative diplômé appears.^[3]
• 1878 – The verb diplômer appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A diploma, an official document that confers and attests a title, grade or qualification: Elle a reçu son diplôme d'ingénieur en juin.^[9][8][10]
2. An examination or competition taken to obtain such a document.^[8][3]
3. (history) A charter, an official act of a sovereign or great lord establishing a right or privilege, authenticated by a seal.^[2][10][9]

Word family

• diplômé
• diplômer

Related words

• diplomatique
• Latin diplōma
• Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (díplōma)

Usage notes

Littré has a second, rare diplôme of the same Greek origin: a vessel with double walls, between which water is poured before it is put on the fire.^[6] In Quebec the diploma obtained at the end of college is the diplôme d'études collégiales.^[3]

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 k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 83a
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)