Etymologically
Log in

facile

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fa.sil/[1]

Forms

facile (plural faciles)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin facilis (“easily done; doing easily; good-natured”), from faciō (“to do, make”).[2][3][4][5][6] Wiktionary thinks the borrowing was probably helped by Italian facile.[1] Littré notes that the word is recent and modelled on the Latin; had it existed in the old language it would have been “fele”, as frêle comes from fragilis.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1441, in the Livre de la vie active of the Hôtel-Dieu of Paris, of something whose execution meets no obstacle.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was applied to people in 1559 (Amyot: facile à pardonner), meaning accommodating, good-natured; from complaisance came the sense “weak, without character”, still current in classical French, and, from that the use of a woman who readily consents to sex (1761, the Encyclopédie).[3][2][8] Régnier (1613) uses it for a writer who produces without effort, and, from 1680 it describes work that seems done with ease, often pejoratively: une plaisanterie facile.[3][9] The adverb facilement dates from about 1450; in mid-20th-century speech facile itself became an adverb, il a cinquante ans facile, and the slang fastoche was formed from it.[3][10]

Timeline

  • 1441 – First record.[2]
  • c. 1450 – Facilement.[3]
  • 1559 – Of a person, “easy to deal with”, Amyot.[2][3]
  • 1613 – Of a writer who produces with ease, Régnier.[2]
  • 1761 – Of a woman, “easy”, the Encyclopédie.[8]
  • Mid-20th century – Adverbial facile “easily, at least”.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. easy, simple: un travail facile, facile comme bonjour.[11][1]
  2. Easy to (do): facile à entretenir.[10]
  3. (pejorative) facile, requiring no effort or thought: une plaisanterie facile.[10][9]
  4. Easy-going, easy to live with: un enfant facile, avoir le caractère facile.[10][11]
  5. (derogatory) Of a woman: easy, promiscuous.[1][3]

Adverb

  1. (familiar) Easily; at least: elle a cinquante ans facile.[10][3]

Word family

  • facilement
  • fastoche
  • facilité
  • faciliter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 h i j 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. ^ 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, 358b
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert