impropre

Forms

impropre (plural impropres)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin improprius (“not fitting”), a term of the Latin grammarians,^[2][3][4] formed from in- (“not”) and proprius (“one's own, special, proper”).^[5][6][7] The TLFi dates the borrowing to 1372.^[2][8] The sense “unfit for”, construed with ⟨à⟩, was shaped by the French adjective propre.^[2]

Cognate with Old Occitan impropri, Italian improprio and Spanish impropio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1372, in Jean Corbichon's translation of the Propriétés des choses (in a 15th-century manuscript), in the phrase impropre manière de parler, of a way of speaking that does not express the idea exactly.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first qualified a word or expression that does not suit what it names, as Latin improprius did in grammar.^[4][2] In 1676 Bouhours records impropre à, of a thing that does not lend itself to a use, and the construction passed into common usage as the opposite of propre à;^[2][4] from 1804 it is also said of a person unfit for a task.^[2]

Grammar kept the older sense in diphtongue impropre (1867, Littré), a vowel digraph that is a diphthong only to the eye,^[5][7] and in dérivation impropre (1893), the change of a word's function without a change of form.^[5][4] Rey notes that the adjective answers only to the first sense of propre: the opposite of propre “clean” is malpropre or sale.^[4]

Timeline

• 1372 – Corbichon writes impropre manière de parler.^[2][5]
• 16th century – Calvin and Amyot use the word of improper wording.^[7]
• 1676 – Bouhours records impropre à “unsuited to”.^[2][4]
• 1804 – Benjamin Constant uses it of a person unfit for a task.^[2]
• 1867 – Littré records diphtongue impropre.^[5]
• 1893 – The Dictionnaire général records dérivation impropre.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a word or expression: not fitting, not expressing the idea exactly; incorrect.^[9][2][10]
2. Impropre à: of a person, unfit for a task or service, il a été jugé impropre au service.^[9][11][10]
3. Impropre à: of a thing, unsuitable for a use, as food impropre à la consommation “unfit for consumption”.^[9][10]
4. (grammar) Dérivation impropre: the use of a word in a new function without a change of form, also called conversion.^[5][4]

Word family

• improprement

Related words

• propre
• impropriété
• malpropre
• Latin proprius

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 608b
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)