flexibilité

Forms

flexibilité f (plural flexibilités)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin flexibilitās (“flexibility”), from flexibilis (“pliant”), itself from flexus, the past participle of flectō (“to bend”).^[2][3][4][1] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive it from flexible instead.^[5][6] Cognate with Occitan flexibilitat, Spanish flexibilidad and Italian flessibilità.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1381, in the Poèmes du Grand Schisme, already in a figurative sense, “suppleness”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Its senses run parallel to those of the adjective flexible.^[8] The concrete sense, the quality of what bends without breaking, as a reed, a spring blade or the human body, stands beside the figurative one: in 1580 Montaigne speaks of the flexibilité of the human mind in finding reasons for anything, and in the classical period it was the yielding quality of a character that adapts to circumstances or to others.^[3][7] Littré also records it in singing, for a voice that passes easily from one note to another, and in painting, for supple outlines.^[7]

In economics, from the late 20th century, it is the adaptable application of rules on working hours, wages and employment, a use Rey links with economic liberalism.^[8][6] English flexibility (1610s) is from French flexibilité or directly from Late Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1381 – First recorded, figuratively, in the Poèmes du Grand Schisme.^[2][4]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it of the mind.^[3][7]
• 1610s – English flexibility is recorded.^[9]
• c. 1970 – The adjective flexible enters administrative use (horaire flexible), and the noun follows it into economics.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of what bends easily without breaking; flexibility, souplesse: la flexibilité d'une branche de saule.^[6][2][10]
2. Of the voice, the ability to change intensity and move quickly from one note to another.^[7][3]
3. (literary) The quality of a mind or character that yields to circumstances or to others.^[3]
4. The ability to change in order to adapt; in economics, adaptable rules on working hours, wages and employment: flexibilité de l'emploi.^[6][8]

Related words

• flexible
• inflexibilité
• flexion
• fléchir
• Latin flexibilitas

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)