implication

Forms

implication f (plural implications)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin implicātiō (“interweaving, chain, embarrassment”),^[2][3][4] formed on implicātum, the supine of implicō (“to entwine, involve”) (see impliquer).^[2][3] Wiktionary adds that it can also be analysed in French as the verb with the suffix -ation.^[1] The TLFi and the DHLF date the first record about 1447; the GLLF dates the same text 1403.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Internele Consolacion, a French translation of the Imitation of Christ (about 1447), it means “the state of being entangled”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

After “entanglement” the word passed into law (1611, Cotgrave) for the act of including someone in an accusation or the state of being implicated.^[2][3] In logic it meant “contradiction” (1718, Académie), after implications de contredits “confusion from contradictory statements” (1636, Monet);^[2][3] since Couturat (1904) it has named the relation by which one proposition necessarily entails another.^[2][3]

By extension it came to mean what is implied by something without being said, and in the plural (mid-20th century) “consequences”.^[3] The sense “a person's involvement” is recent (1966, according to the GLLF).^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 1447 – “The state of being entangled”, in the Internele Consolacion.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the legal sense.^[2]
• 1636 – Implications de contredits in Monet's dictionary.^[2]
• 1718 – The Académie records the sense “contradiction”.^[2]
• 1904 – Couturat's implication matérielle and implication formelle in logic.^[2]
• mid-20th century – The plural implications “consequences”.^[3]
• 1966 – The sense “involvement”, in Le Figaro.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The act of implicating someone in a criminal case, or the state of being implicated.^[6][2]
2. (logic, mathematics) The relation by which one proposition entails another (if A, then B), and the connective written ⇒ or →.^[6][7]
3. (chiefly plural) A consequence or effect: les implications budgétaires d'un projet.^[6][8]
4. A person's involvement or commitment in something.^[6][7]
5. (logic, obsolete) A contradiction.^[2][9]

Related words

• impliquer
• implicite
• Latin implicō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette