Etymologically
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dossier

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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. An issue or affair under study: ouvrir un dossier, le dossier des retraites.[11][1]

Word family

  • dosseret
  • 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