gouverneur

Forms

gouverneur m (plural gouverneurs, feminine gouverneure or gouverneuse)^[1] Old French nominative governere, gouverneres, guvernere, from Latin gubernátor, and oblique governeor, from gubernatórem; also gouvreneur in the late 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French governeor, inherited from Latin gubernātor (“steersman; ruler”), formed on the supine of gubernō (“to steer, govern”).^[3][4][5][1] The Latin verb comes from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”), and the Latin noun answers to κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot”).^[1][3] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive it instead from the French verb gouverner.^[6][7]

Cognate with Italian governatore, Spanish gobernador, Portuguese governador and Old Occitan governador.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as gouverneres in Wace's Vie de sainte Marguerite (1130–1140), meaning a person who has charge of someone.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Benoît de Sainte-Maure used it of a military commander about 1165.^[3][4] From the late 12th century it named the official who governs a country, province or town; in this sense it pushed out gouvernant, which kept its feminine gouvernante.^[3][4][8] From the late 15th century it was also the man in charge of a child's education.^[3][4]

Gouverneur des finances is found in 1492, and in the 18th century the word named the head of a large financial institution, as the governor of the Banque de France.^[3][4] The colonial governor is recorded in 1645 and returned in 19th-century colonial law.^[3][4] The governor of a state of the United States is an adaptation of English governor.^[4] The English word governor (about 1300) comes from Old French governeor and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1130–1140 – Gouverneres “one who has charge of someone” in Wace.^[3]
• c. 1165 – Governere “military commander” in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[3][4]
• late 12th century – Guvernere “ruler of a country”.^[3]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it as governor.^[9]
• late 15th century – Chastellain uses it of a child's tutor.^[3][4]
• 1492 – Gouverneur des finances.^[3][4]
• 1645 – It names the governor of a colony.^[3][4]
• 1690 – The derivative sous-gouverneur is recorded.^[4]
• 1848 – Chateaubriand uses the derivative gouvernat.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A high royal officer at the head of a province or a fortified town under the Ancien Régime, and in general the governor of a province.^[7][5][10]
2. Gouverneur militaire: a general at the head of a military region.^[7][4]
3. The head of certain large financial institutions, as the gouverneur de la Banque de France.^[7][4]
4. (historical) The official representing the home country in a colony.^[7][4]
5. The elected head of the executive of a state of the United States.^[7][11]
6. (Canada) Gouverneur général: the representative of the sovereign.^[7]
7. (Belgium) The official at the head of a province.^[11]
8. (dated) A tutor in charge of the education of a young prince or nobleman.^[7][10][4]

Word family

• sous-gouverneur
• lieutenant-gouverneur

Related words

• gouverner
• gouvernante
• gouvernail
• Latin gubernātor
• English governor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)