inventeur

Forms

inventeur m (plural inventeurs, feminine inventrice)^[1] The feminine was first inventeresse (1431), then also inventeure (1485) and inventeuse, before inventrice (early 16th century) prevailed.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inventor (“finder, discoverer, author”), with the feminine inventrice from inventrix.^[3][2][4] The Latin noun is formed on the supine inventum of inveniō (“to find”).^[2][4][5]

The Middle French feminines inventeresse and inventeure were formed on the masculine.^[3][2] The verb inventer was formed in turn on the noun.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The feminine inventeresse is the first form recorded, in 1431, in the sentence against Joan of Arc, which calls her a lying inventor of revelations and apparitions.^[3][2] The masculine is found in Georges Chastellain's chronicle in the third quarter of the 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

All the senses of the word appear in the 15th century.^[2] It first meant a person who makes something up and passes it off as real, a sense now archaic.^[2][3] From 1454 it has been a legal term for the person who finds something hidden, such as a treasure or a mine.^[3][2][6]

Old Provençal enventadour is recorded in 1461 in the sense of a person who imagines something new;^[2] French inventeur has it from 1530, in the arts, the sciences and other fields.^[2] Later uses include “person who found an idea” (1564), “author of an action” (17th century) and the obsolete inventeur de romans “novelist”.^[2] Used absolutely, from the mid-18th century, it means someone who makes important inventions, especially in science and technology, today its usual sense.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1431 – Inventeresse in the sentence against Joan of Arc.^[3]
• 1454 – A royal ordinance uses inventeur for the finder of a hidden object.^[3][5]
• 3rd quarter of the 15th century – The masculine in Georges Chastellain.^[3]
• 1485 – The feminine inventeure.^[2]
• Early 16th century – The feminine inventrice appears.^[3][4]
• 1530 – “Person who imagines something new”.^[2]
• Mid-18th century – Absolute use for the author of important inventions.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An inventor, a person who invents or has invented something: Personne ne connaît l'inventeur de ce jeu de cartes.^[7][3][8]
2. Used absolutely, an author of important inventions in science or technology: Son grand-père était un inventeur de génie.^[7][5]
3. (law) The finder of a treasure, a lost object or an archaeological site.^[7][5][8]
4. (archaic) A person who makes up something false.^[3][2][8]

Word family

• inventer

Related words

• invention
• Latin inventor

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette