futilité

Forms

futilité f (plural futilités)^[1] 16th-century futileté.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin futilitās (“frivolity, futility”), first in the 16th-century form futileté, and in its present form from 1672.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is derived from futilis (“letting its contents leak out, vain”), the source of futile.^[3][4][5] Rey connects the Latin adjective with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- (“to pour”), seen in fondre.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is the form futileté, from the 16th century, which the TLFi takes from Delboulle's collection of datings.^[2][3] The form futilité appears in Molière's Les Femmes savantes (1672), for a futile thing.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a futile thing or remark; the abstract sense “quality of being futile” is recorded by Furetière in 1690.^[4][6][3] The Académie listed it in 1694, with the example of a futile line of reasoning.^[7] Both senses remain in use: the quality of a person or thing that is futile, and in the plural trifles or idle talk, as in dire des futilités.^[8][9][5]

Timeline

• 16th century – The form futileté is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1672 – Molière uses futilité in Les Femmes savantes for a futile thing.^[2][4]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “quality of being futile”.^[6][3]
• 1694 – The Académie includes it in its first edition.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of what is futile, or of a person taken up with trivial things: futility, frivolity: la futilité de ce prétexte.^[8][9][2]
2. (by extension) A futile thing, remark or act, a trifle: dire des futilités, perdre son temps en futilités.^[8][9][5]

Related words

• futile
• futilement
• Latin futilis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)