drastique

Forms

drastique (plural drastiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δραστικός (drastikós, “active, effective”), a word Greek also used in medicine.^[2][3][4][1] The Greek adjective is formed on δραστός (drastós), the verbal adjective of δράω (dráō, “to do, to act”),^[3][5][6] which is also behind drame.^[3] The verb is of uncertain origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1741 in E. Col de Villars's French–Latin dictionary of medical terms, of a remedy that purges very strongly.^[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

For more than a century the word stayed a medical term for a violent purgative, used also as a noun (les drastiques) for remedies such as jalap or colocynth.^[6][3]

The figurative sense “energetic, severe” appears in 1875, in a text by H. Blaze de Bury cited in Littré's Supplement.^[2][5] The TLFi suggests that this sense owes something to the English word drastic, recorded in it in 1808,^[2] and Rey attributes it to English influence even though the first French use was taken for a Germanism;^[3] the Grand Robert treats this drastique as a separate borrowing from English, of the same Greek origin.^[5] The GLLF dates the economic sense “draconian” (strict financial measures) only to the mid-20th century.^[8] English had itself taken drastic from Greek in the 1690s, at first of medicines.^[7]

The adverb drastiquement (about 1950) is modelled on English.^[3]

Timeline

• 1741 – Col de Villars records drastique as a medical term.^[2][4]
• 1808 – English drastic is first found in the sense “severe, violent”.^[2][7]
• 1875 – The figurative sense “energetic” appears in French.^[2][5]
• c. 1950 – The adverb drastiquement is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (medicine) Acting very strongly, said especially of a purgative; also as a noun, a drastic purgative.^[9][6]
2. Severe and forceful, said of a decision or measure: draconian, radical.^[9][8]

Word family

• drastiquement

Related words

• drame
• English drastic

References

1. ^ a b c 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 c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert