exercice

Forms

exercice m (plural exercices)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin exercitium (“exercise, practice”), a derivative of exerceō (“to exercise”).^[2][3][4][5] Old French also had the latinized form exercite, and the two are hard to tell apart in manuscripts: editions of Jean de Meun's translation of Vegetius read one or the other.^[2][3] The Wiktionary calls it inherited from Old French exercice, itself borrowed from Latin.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan exercici and Italian esercizio.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, early in the 13th century, is espiriteil exercice “spiritual exercise” in a French version of Saint Bernard's letter to the brothers of Mont-Dieu.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first it named an activity governed by rules in religious life, later also intellectual (1580, Montaigne) and artistic activity.^[3][7] From the late 13th century it also meant the action or means of training oneself to develop moral or physical qualities,^[3] as in l'usaige et l'exercice des armes in Jean de Meun's Vegetius.^[6] In Anglo-Norman, from the mid-13th century, it also appears as exercise and excercice, for physical exertion and the carrying out of a duty.^[8]

In 1424 it meant the practice of something (there in the feminine), whence the exercise of a power or right;^[2][3] from 1531 it was the carrying out of an office or trade, whence en exercice “in office”.^[2][3] Physical exercise, or simply l'exercice, appears with Descartes (1637), and the word also named soldiers' drill.^[3] Religious exercices spirituels are recorded from 1669 (Molière).^[3]

In the 19th century it took the sense “accounting period of a budget” (1857, Proudhon, Littré 1865),^[9][7] and at school, from 1865, graded tasks for pupils, whence books of exercises; in music, studies for learning an instrument.^[3]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Espiriteil exercice in a version of Saint Bernard's letter.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Jean de Meun's Vegetius speaks of l'exercice des armes.^[6][7]
• 1424 – Used for “practice (of something)”.^[2]
• 1531 – Used for the exercise of an office or trade.^[2][3]
• 1580 – Montaigne speaks of exercises of the mind.^[6][3]
• 1637 – Descartes uses it for physical exercise.^[3]
• 1669 – Molière uses it for an act of piety.^[3][7]
• 1857 – Proudhon uses it for the accounting period of a budget.^[9]
• 1865 – Littré records school and musical exercises.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Physical exercise: faire de l'exercice, prendre de l'exercice.^[10][2][1]
2. (military) drill: the training of soldiers in handling weapons and in movements.^[10][6][1]
3. A set task or series of movements for training in a particular field: school exercises, exercises on the piano; familiarly shortened to exo.^[10][3]
4. (literary) Training, practice: a long exercise of the memory or the will.^[11][10]
5. The exercise or use of a power or right, the practice of a trade or profession;^[10][3] en exercice “in office, in service”.^[10][3]
6. The practice of a religion.^[10]
7. (accounting) A financial year, the period between two budgets or inventories.^[10][1][9]

Related words

• exercer
• Latin exercitium
• English exercise

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 292b
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert