huissier

Forms

huissier m (plural huissiers, feminine huissière)^[1] Old French usser, uisser, ussier and uissier;^[2][3][4] huissier from the 13th century (Chronique de Rains).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French huis + -ier, the agent suffix, as ussier from Old French us “door”.^[3][5][6][7] It can be compared with Latin ōstiārius (“doorkeeper”), which in the medieval period also named a household officer and a court dignitary;^[3][5] Wiktionary allows inheritance from that word as an alternative and calls the learned ostiaire its doublet.^[1] That noun continues Latin ūstium, recorded in the 6th century, a modification of Classical Latin ōstium (“house door”).^[6]

The Anglo-Norman usser gave the English word usher, recorded from the late 13th century for a household servant in charge of doors.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as ussier about 1140 in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis, meaning a doorkeeper;^[3] Wace pairs the ussier with the chamberlains.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the doorkeeper came the officer whose duty was to open and close a door at court, and later the attendant who announces and shows in visitors in a ministry.^[5][9] In Old French it also named a large transport ship with a door at the stern (1188) and a maker of doors (1260), uses now long gone.^[3][5][10]

By extension, from the 14th century, it was the attendant of an assembly or court (huissiers de parlement, 1320). Robert Estienne's dictionary of 1538 first uses it for the court officer who serves writs and enforces judgments, today's huissier de justice.^[3][5][2] Compounds such as huissier à verge (1660) and huissier audiencier (1680) followed.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Ussier “doorkeeper” appears in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis.^[3]
• 1188 – Aimon de Varennes uses it for a transport ship.^[3]
• 1260 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers uses it for a door-maker.^[3]
• late 13th century – English borrows it as usher.^[8]
• 1320 – Huissiers de parlement is recorded.^[3]
• 1538 – Estienne records it for an officer of justice.^[3]
• 1680 – Richelet records huissier audiencier.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) A doorkeeper, a porter.^[3][9]
2. An usher, an officer whose duty was to open and close a door: huissier de la chambre du roi.^[9][3][4]
3. An attendant who receives, announces and shows in visitors in a ministry or office.^[9]
4. An attendant serving an assembly or a court.^[9]
5. (law) A bailiff, the court officer who serves legal documents and enforces judgments (huissier de justice).^[9][1]

Related words

• huis
• ostiaire
• Latin ōstiārius
• English usher

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 438b
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert