Etymologically
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infirmier

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛ̃.fiʁ.mje/[1]

Forms

infirmier m (plural infirmiers, feminine infirmière)[1] Old French enfermier (1288–1675); infirmier from 1398.[2][3] The feminine infirmière is recorded in 1765, in the Encyclopédie.[2][4][3]

Etymology

It is a remaking, after infirme and infirmité, of Old French enfermier, derived from the old adjective enferm (“sick”), which came from Latin īnfirmus (“weak, infirm”).[2][5][4] Bloch and Wartburg note that although it was remade on that adjective, the word kept its old sense.[5] Littré compares Old Occitan enfermier, Spanish enfermero and Italian infermiere.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Enfermier (1288) named the person who looked after the sick in an infirmary or a hospital, often in a religious house; the form infirmier is first found in 1398.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In a 15th-century tale an enfermiere tends a sick lady, and a monastic document mentions the enfermier among the officers of a convent.[6] The word has kept the sense of a person who looks after the sick, now a qualified health professional who gives care under a doctor's direction.[5][7][2] The feminine infirmière appears in the Encyclopédie (1765); infirmier-major is recorded in 1873.[4][3] The noun infirmerie dates from 1606, after medieval enfermerie.[5]

Timeline

  • 1288 – Enfermier.[2][3]
  • 1398 – Infirmier.[2]
  • 1606 – Infirmerie.[5]
  • 1675 – Last record of enfermier, in Oudin.[2]
  • 1765 – Infirmière in the Encyclopédie.[4]
  • 1873 – Infirmier-major.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A nurse, a qualified person who cares for the sick under a doctor's direction: infirmière à domicile.[7][1]
  2. (military) A medical orderly: infirmier militaire.[3][2]

Adjective

  1. Relating to nursing: le personnel infirmier.[1]

Word family

  • infirmerie
  • infirme
  • infirmité
  • Latin īnfirmus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert