expédient

Forms

expédient m (plural expédients)^[1] As an adjective it has the feminine expédiente.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin expediēns, the present participle of expediō (“to free the feet, disentangle, prepare, be useful”),^[3][4][2][5] formed from ex- and pēs (“foot”).^[4][5][6] Rey explains that men and animals are hobbled by the feet, so the verb first meant “to free from fetters”, then “to clear, get ready” and, used absolutely, “to be of use”.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg note that the adjective was used almost only with être, rendering the impersonal Latin form of the verb meaning “it is advantageous”.^[7]

The noun is the adjective used as a noun.^[4][2][5] Littré compares Old Occitan expedien and Italian espediente.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Oresme's translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–1372): choses ... proffitables ou expedientes, “profitable or advantageous things”.^[3][4] The GLLF dates Oresme's first use to about 1361.^[5] Littré quotes him too: il est miex et plus expedient dire (“it is better and more expedient to say”).^[6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, “useful, appropriate”, was common in classical French, mostly in the impersonal il est expédient de, and is now literary.^[4][5][3]

The noun first meant “advantage” (14th century), a sense since lost.^[4][2] From the middle of the 16th century, in Amyot, it meant a means of getting out of a difficulty,^[5][2] often in the plural, as in Molière (1673).^[4] From 1735 (Lesage) it named an extreme, makeshift way of getting money, and the plural in this sense is found in Rousseau in 1770, whence vivre d'expédients.^[5][4] In the 19th century it took the pejorative sense of a makeshift that avoids the real difficulty (1859, Baudelaire).^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1370–1372 – Oresme uses the adjective in his translation of the Ethics.^[3][4]
• mid-16th century – The noun means “means of getting out of a difficulty”.^[5][2][4]
• 1673 – Molière uses the plural expédients.^[4]
• 1735 – Lesage uses it of a makeshift way of getting money.^[5][4]
• 1770 – Rousseau uses the plural in this sense.^[5]
• 1859 – Baudelaire uses it of a makeshift solution.^[4][5]
• 1932 – The Académie gives the adjective its own article.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) Useful, suited to the circumstances, expedient: il est expédient de partir tôt.^[3][8][5]
2. (pejorative) Of value only as a clever means.^[3]

Noun

1. A means of getting out of a difficulty or reaching one's end, a resource or device.^[8][5][1]
2. (pejorative) A makeshift measure that gets one out of trouble for a while without solving the problem; a palliatif.^[8][5]
3. Expédients (plural): extreme and provisional means of getting money;^[5][4] vivre d'expédients.^[5][4]

Related words

• expédier
• pied
• Latin expediō

Usage notes

The Académie treated the adjective under the noun from 1694 to 1878 and gave it its own article in 1932.^[3] Littré notes that, according to Palsgrave, the word was pronounced euzpedient in the 16th century.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert