inactivité

Forms

inactivité f (plural inactivités)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French in- + activité.^[2][3][4] Littré derives it instead from inactif, and Wiktionary allows both analyses.^[5][1] The noun for activity was borrowed in 1425 from Medieval Latin activitas.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record, of 1726, speaks of l'inactivité du Corps in Le Spectateur ou le Socrate moderne.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1737, and the GLLF to 1738 in Voltaire.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century it was used in physics and chemistry for what is now called inertie, the absence of certain effects in a substance or an organ; the TLFi marks this use as dated.^[7][2] The everyday sense, a lack of movement, occupation or work, is dated by the GLLF to 1790, in Linguet.^[7]

The administrative sense, a temporary, statutory suspension of an official's or an officer's active service, as in être en inactivité, is dated to 1893 in the Dictionnaire général.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1726 – L'inactivité du Corps in Le Spectateur ou le Socrate moderne.^[2]
• 1737 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word.^[6]
• 1738 – Voltaire uses it in the sense of physical inertia.^[7]
• 1790 – Linguet uses it for a lack of activity or occupation.^[7]
• 1893 – The Dictionnaire général records the administrative sense.^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lack of activity; the state of someone without occupation or work.^[4][9][10]
2. (administration) The situation of a civil servant or a serviceman temporarily not in active service: être en inactivité.^[4][2]
3. (dated, physics, chemistry) Absence of a natural or induced effect in a substance or organ; inertia.^[2][7]

Related words

• activité
• inactif
• inaction

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)