existant

Forms

existant (feminine existante, masculine plural existants, feminine plural existantes)^[1] Middle French existent, existente, and existant.^[2]

Etymology

It is the present participle from French exister (“to exist”), used as an adjective.^[3][4][5][6] The verb was borrowed in the 15th century from Latin exsistō (“to come out, appear”).^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Middle French dictionary records the adjective from Oresme (about 1370), in the sense “that exists, that has a reality”: des choses presentes ou existentes “of things present or existing”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Rey dates the present participle to the 16th century and its use as an adjective to 1690;^[5] the Grand Robert and the GLLF likewise date the adjective from Furetière's dictionary of 1690.^[3][4] The Académie recorded it in 1694 for existing things and goods.^[9]

Beside the philosophical sense “having being, real”, the everyday sense is “existing at present”, of laws, rates or a clientele.^[10][11] As a noun, un existant is a being in philosophical writing, and l'existant in commerce is the stock of goods a firm owns at a given date.^[10][12] It gave the prefixed adjectives coexistant (1594) and inexistant (1784).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – Oresme uses existent, existente “existing”.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the adjective.^[3][4]
• 1694 – The Académie records toutes les choses existantes.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (formal, philosophy) That exists, that has a reality: les êtres existants.^[10][7][11]
2. Existing at present, currently in force or use: les règlements existants, élargir le réseau existant.^[10][11][4]

Noun

1. (philosophy) Un existant: a being, something that exists.^[10][12][6]
2. (commerce) L'existant: all the goods a firm owns at a given date, as l'existant en magasin.^[10][12]

Related words

• existence
• existentialisme
• existentialiste
• existentiel
• exister
• coexistant
• inexistant
• Latin exsistō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)