Etymologically
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extraordinaire

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Pronunciation

  • /ɛk.stʁa.ɔʁ.di.nɛʁ/[1]
  • /ɛk.stʁɔʁ.di.nɛʁ/[1]

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]

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