extraordinaire

Forms

extraordinaire (plural extraordinaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin extraordinārius (“exceptional, unusual; supplementary”), formed from extrā (“outside”) and ordinārius (“regular, customary”) after the phrase extrā ōrdinem (“out of the regular order”).^[2][3][4] It is felt in French as a compound of ordinaire.^[3]

Littré compares Old Occitan extraordinari, Spanish extraordinario and Italian straordinario.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Brunetto Latini's Trésor (about 1265), as an adjective for what lies outside the common order, as in Latin.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the old law torture extraordinaire was an aggravated form of torture, and criminal proceedings were called extraordinaires because they did not follow the usual forms.^[3][5] As a noun it named an unforeseen expense (1480), under the Ancien Régime especially funds for war.^[2][3] The adverbial par extraordinaire “by exception” dates from 1865.^[3]

By extension the adjective came to mean “remarkable, very great” (1587, La Noue) and “astonishing by its rarity or strangeness” (1666, Molière).^[3][6] The clipped form extra (1836) comes from it.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini's Trésor.^[2]
• 1480 – As a noun, “extraordinary expense”.^[2]
• 1587 – La Noue uses it for “remarkable, very great”.^[6][3]
• 1666 – Molière uses it of what astonishes.^[6][3]
• 1836 – The clipped form extra.^[7]
• 1865 – Par extraordinaire.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Outside the usual order or rules; exceptional, special: une session extraordinaire, des dépenses extraordinaires.^[8][5]
2. Ambassadeur extraordinaire: an envoy sent on a special mission.^[5][8]
3. Strange, astonishing, hard to believe.^[8][6]
4. Remarkable, outstanding; very great: un pianiste extraordinaire.^[8][6]

Noun

1. L'extraordinaire: what is out of the ordinary, par extraordinaire, by exception.^[3][8]

Related words

• ordinaire
• extra
• Latin extraordinārius

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 333a
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert