invalide

Forms

invalide (plural invalides)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin invalidus (“weak, feeble, powerless”),^[2][3][4] formed from the negative prefix in- and validus (“strong, robust, effective”), from valeō (“to be strong, have worth”).^[5][6][7] The FEW files it under the Latin adjective.^[8] It is the negative counterpart of valide.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1515 in a royal text collected in Isambert's Recueil général des anciennes lois françaises.^[2] The TLFi and the Grand Robert read it there as “not valid” in law;^[2][7] the DHLF and the GLLF date the sense “infirm, unable to work” to 1515 and the legal sense to 1542 or about 1536.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Bloch and Wartburg note that the legal sense “null, void”, which Latin did not have, developed in French in the 16th century;^[3] Martin Du Bellay asked whether a treaty was subsistant ou invalide.^[6] This sense is now dated.^[9][5]

The noun un invalide is first used in 1678, by Guillet, of a soldier no longer fit to serve,^[2][4] and since 1718 also of anyone whom an infirmity keeps from working.^[4][5] From the military sense come the name of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, the hospice founded by Louis XIV for disabled soldiers,^[9][4] and the plural invalides “retirement after long service” (about 1800), “a disabled soldier's pension” (1821), with the slang phrase prendre ses invalides “to retire” (1867), all now out of use.^[4] In computing the adjective has been taken up again for what is not valid.^[4]

Timeline

• 1515 – First record, in Isambert's collection of old French laws.^[2][3]
• 1542 – The DHLF's date for the legal sense “not valid”.^[4]
• 1678 – Guillet uses the noun of a soldier unfit for service.^[2][5]
• 1718 – The noun is applied to any person who cannot work through infirmity.^[4][5]
• c. 1800 – Invalides means a soldier's retirement.^[4]
• 1821 – Invalides names a disabled soldier's pension.^[4]
• 1867 – Slang prendre ses invalides “to retire” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unable to lead an active life or to work because of illness, injury, infirmity or age; disabled: un ouvrier resté invalide après sa chute.^[9][2]
2. (law, dated) Not valid; null: un testament invalide.^[9][5]
3. (computing) Not valid.^[4]

Noun

1. A handicapped person;^[9][2] invalide de guerre: a soldier disabled by age or wounds.^[9][2]
2. Les Invalides: the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, founded by Louis XIV for disabled soldiers.^[9]
3. Invalides du travail: people disabled by work.^[9]

Word family

• invalider
• invalidation
• invalidité

Related words

• valide
• Latin invalidus

References

1. ^ a b 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 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 i j k l m n 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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 787b
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert