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instigateur

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Etymology and origin of the French word instigateur

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1363 royal ordinance More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin instigator
Ultimate origin
Latin īnstīgō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin īnstīgō
English instigate
Latin īnstīgātor
English instigator
French instigateur
From the same root
Latin instīgātiō ← īnstīgō

Forms

instigateur m (plural instigateurs, feminine instigatrice)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin īnstīgātor (“one who incites, instigator”), a word of imperial Latin.[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed on īnstīgātum, the supine of īnstīgō (“to goad on, incite”).[5][6][3] The simple verb stigō is found only in glosses;[3] Rey connects it to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *stig- (“to prick”), also behind stigmate.[3]

instigation (1332) is borrowed from the Latin noun of the same verb, and French also had a verb instiguer (14th century, Bersuire), no longer used.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in a royal ordinance of 19 November 1363, for a person who incites another to act.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense and is mostly taken in a bad sense, of whoever stirs up a crime or a plot.[3][6][7] Figuratively it is said of a thing as the cause or driving force of something.[3][7] The feminine instigatrice is recorded from 1671 (Pomey).[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1363 – Instigateur appears in a royal ordinance.[2][4]
  • 1671 – The feminine instigatrice is recorded by Pomey.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who urges others to an action, usually a bad one, an instigator: l'instigatrice de la grève.[7][6][2]
  2. (figurative) The cause or driving force of something.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Instigateur.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/instigateur. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·