gratuit

Forms

gratuit (feminine gratuite, masculine plural gratuits, feminine plural gratuites)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin grātuītus (“free, disinterested, without reason”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} In classical Latin the word meant “free, disinterested” and in imperial Latin also “without motive”.^[2][3] Rey and Littré derive it from grātus (“pleasing”), the source of gré; the Grand Robert, the GLLF and Bloch and Wartburg from grātīs (“for nothing”).^{[3][6][7][8][4]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from 1495 (in an edition of 1531), in Jean de Vignay's Miroir historial, of the grace of God given freely: la grace de Dieu toujours persevere gratuite.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1496, the GLLF to 1519, and the Petit Robert to the 14th century.^[4][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word keeps the Latin sense “granted out of pure generosity” (1495).^[3][2] From 1519 it is opposed to payant, of what costs nothing.^[3][2] As in Latin it then came to mean unfounded, unjustified (supposition gratuite, Académie 1718) and, of an act, not prompted by any rational motive (des crimes gratuits, Michelet, 1831).^[2][3] From this André Gide spread the phrase acte gratuit.^[3] Under the old monarchy the don gratuit was the sum granted by the clergy and the provinces.^[8] The slang gratos, for the adjective and the adverb, became common in France in the 1980s.^[3]

Timeline

• 1495 – Jean de Vignay's Miroir historial has gratuite “freely given”.^[2][3]
• 1519 – It is used of what is free of charge.^[3][8]
• 1541 – Calvin uses it for “given out of pure generosity”.^[8]
• 1690 – Furetière records don gratuit.^[8]
• 1718 – The Académie records supposition gratuite.^[2][3]
• 1831 – Michelet writes des crimes gratuits.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Free of charge, given or enjoyed without paying: un concert gratuit, à titre gratuit.^[9][2][1]
2. (literary) Done or given for nothing, out of generosity, disinterested.^[9][8]
3. Without good reason or foundation, unfounded: un soupçon gratuit.^[9][2][1]
4. Of an act, done without rational motive: un acte gratuit.^[2][3]

Noun

1. A local freesheet, a periodical distributed free and paid for by advertising.^[10]

Word family

• gratuitement

Related words

• gratuité
• gratis
• gratos
• gré
• Latin grātuītus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 249a
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)