dossier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /do.sje/^[1]

Forms

dossier m (plural dossiers)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French dos + -ier.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} dos continues Vulgar Latin *dossum, from classical dorsum (“back”).^[4] Littré compares Medieval Latin dorsārium.^[6] The sense “file of papers” is named from the back of the bundle: Bloch and Wartburg say the bundle bore a label on its back, as the spine of a book does, while Littré compares the bulge of the papers to a back.^[4][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in dossier de lit (1352), the head of a bed.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Cotgrave (1611) records it alone for the back of a seat, the part one leans against.^[2][7] The archives of Bayonne use it in 1586 for the papers of a tax affair, by reference to the back of a book, Richelet records the sense in 1680.^[2][7][8] From “bundle of documents about one person or affair” it came to mean the folder holding them, the affair itself (le dossier du chômage) and, in computing, a folder of files.^[9][1]

English borrowed the word in the sense “bundle of documents” (1880, by 1868 as a French word).^[10]

Timeline

• 1352 – Dossier de lit.^[2]
• 1377 – The diminutive dosseret.^[7]
• 1586 – “File of documents”, Bayonne.^[2]
• 1611 – The back of a seat, Cotgrave.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the file of documents.^[11][4]
• 1880 – English dossier.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The back of a seat: le dossier d'une chaise; the head (of a bed).^[9][11]
2. A file, dossier, a set of documents about one affair or person: constituer un dossier, dossier médical.^[9][11]
3. The folder containing such documents, (computing) a folder.^[9][1]
4. (figurative) A case or issue under study: ouvrir un dossier.^[11][1]

Word family

• dosseret

Related words

• dos
• dossard
• endosser
• adosser

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 144a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse