Etymologically
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expérience

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛk.spe.ʁjɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

expérience f (plural expériences)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin experientia (“trial, test, attempt; experience, practice”), from experior (“to try, test”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] That verb is formed with ex- and the root of perītus (“experienced, skilled”), the past participle of an unattested simple verb, Rey connects it with Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt”) and the Indo-European root of péril.[3][5] It is related to expert.[3]

Compare Occitan experientia, Spanish experiencia and Italian esperienza.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Brunetto Latini's Trésor (about 1260–65) uses it for knowledge acquired by practice: li covient experience et lonc tans “it requires experience and a long time”.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The Roman de la Rose and Oresme use it in the same sense, the knowledge gained from things lived through.[7][9] It took up the Latin sense of a test, an attempt to bring about a phenomenon in order to study it, in Henri de Mondeville (1314); Pascal (1663) uses it for a scientific experiment.[3][9][2] The philosophical sense is in Montaigne (1580).[3][9] From the 17th to the 19th century the scientific concept of expérience was set against that of observation, and its derivatives (expérimentation, expérimental) grew in importance after 1830.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1265 – “Knowledge from practice”, Brunetto Latini.[2]
  • 1314 – A test, trial, Henri de Mondeville.[9]
  • 1452 – Inexpérience.[3]
  • 1580 – In philosophy, Montaigne.[9]
  • 1663 – A scientific experiment, Pascal.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. experience, knowledge gained from practice: avoir de l'expérience, par expérience.[10][1]
  2. An experience, something lived through: une expérience inoubliable, faire l'expérience de.[10][1]
  3. An experiment, a test: une expérience de chimie, faire une expérience.[2][1]
  4. An attempt, trial: tenter l'expérience.[9][10]

Word family

  • inexpérience
  • expérimenté
  • expertise
  • expérimenter
  • expérimental
  • expert
  • empirique
  • Latin experientia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 309a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  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 e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert