inutile

Pronunciation

• IPA: /i.ny.til/^[1]

Forms

inutile (plural inutiles)^[1] Old French inutele (12th century); inutile in Bersuire (before 1380).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inūtilis (“useless, of no help; harmful”), from in- (“not”) and ūtilis (“useful”), from ūtor (“to use”).^{[2][3][5][4][1][6]}

Compare Old Occitan inutil, Spanish inútil and Italian inutile.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Psautier d'Oxford (first half of the 12th century) translates Psalm 53: inuteles fait sunt “they have become worthless”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Bersuire's translation of Livy (before 1380) has the modern form.^[2][3] Clément Marot (about 1530) applies it to people, and il est inutile de… is in Bossuet (1669).^[5] As a noun, un inutile, a useless person, is in Regnard (1700), and the military bouches inutiles (1743) were the people in a besieged town who could not fight.^[2] Ronsard and Desportes still wrote inutil in the masculine.^[7]

Timeline

• first half of the 12th century – Inuteles, Psautier d'Oxford.^[2]
• before 1380 – Inutiles, Bersuire.^[2]
• 1669 – Il est inutile de, Bossuet.^[5]
• 1700 – A useless person, Regnard.^[2]
• 1743 – Les bouches inutiles.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. useless, serving no purpose: des bagages inutiles, une démarche inutile.^[8][1]
2. Unnecessary, pointless: il est inutile d'insister, inutile de vous dire que….^[8][1]
3. Of no use to others (of a person): se sentir inutile.^[5][2]

Noun

1. A useless person, bouches inutiles, people who cannot fight in a siege.^[2]

Word family

• inutilement
• inutilité
• inutilisable

Related words

• utile
• Latin inūtilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 785b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert