fédéralisme

Forms

fédéralisme m (plural fédéralismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French fédéral + -isme.^[2][1][3] The adjective (1783) was formed on the stem of Latin foedus (“treaty of alliance”) with the suffix -al, compare Late Latin foederālis (“relating to a treaty”).^[2] Littré instead derived the noun from the verb fédéraliser.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Montesquieu, before 1755, for a system that unites several states.^[5][6][3] The TLFi gives this date only on the authority of another dictionary and dates the word from Robespierre's use in 1789 and 1792.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Taken up again in 1789, fédéralisme became a key word of the French Revolution, together with fédéraliste (1792) and fédéraliser (1793), formed on the same adjective.^[3] In the political struggles of the Revolution it named the plan, attributed to the Girondins, of breaking up the unity of France into a federation of small states.^[4][6] Littré still marked the word as a neologism in 1873.^[4]

In general use it names a system of government in which a federal state shares its powers with the member states.^[2][7] In Belgian French it has taken the special sense of a doctrine of regional autonomy, and in Switzerland that of the autonomy of the cantons against the central power.^[3][7]

Timeline

• before 1755 – Montesquieu uses the word.^[5][6][3]
• 1789 – Robespierre takes it up again at the start of the Revolution.^[2][3]
• 1792 – Robespierre uses it in his Lettres à ses commettants.^[2]
• late 18th century – It names the decentralising project attributed to the Girondins.^[6]
• 1815 – Benjamin Constant defines it as an association of governments that keep their mutual independence.^[2]
• 1873 – Littré labels it a neologism.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. federalism: a political system in which a federal government shares its constitutional powers with the member states.^[2][7]
2. (Switzerland) A policy of keeping or extending the autonomy of the cantons against the central power.^[7][3]
3. (Belgium) A policy supporting the autonomy of the Regions against the central government.^[7][3]
4. (history) During the French Revolution, the plan attributed to the Girondins of turning France into a fédération of small states.^[4][6]

Related words

• fédéral
• fédéraliste
• fédéraliser
• fédératif
• fédération
• fédérer
• Latin foedus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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 c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert