investiture

Forms

investiture f (plural investitures)^[1] Old French envesture (13th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin investītūra, a legal term of the 9th century, derived from investiō (“to clothe”), the source of investir.^[4][2][3][5] The GLLF instead treats it as a learned derivative of the French verb.^[6] It replaced the Old French form envesture, recorded in the 13th century.^[2][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg note that the corresponding verb envestir has not been found in the sense of conferring investiture.^[7]

Littré compares Occitan investitura, Spanish investidura and Italian investitura.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert, the GLLF, the DHLF and Bloch and Wartburg date investiture to 1460, the date of a document on the investitures and homages of lands held of the Empire, quoted by the DMF; the sense is the solemn act putting someone in possession of a fief or dignity.^{[3][6][2][7][9]} The TLFi's first record is from 1475.^[4] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has investiture “formal installation” as early as 1303.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The legal and feudal sense, the formal handing over of a fief or of a bishopric, is now historical; the conflict between the popes and the German emperors over the right to invest bishops, from about 1074, is known as the querelle des Investitures.^[2][8][11] Because investir also meant “to surround a stronghold”, investiture was used in the 16th and 17th centuries for the military investment of a place (from 1587), a sense now taken by investissement.^[2][7][8]

In 20th-century politics it names the act by which a parliament gives its confidence to a head of government (1946, in constitutional law) and the act by which a party officially chooses its candidate for an election (1949).^[2][6] English took investiture from Medieval Latin in the late 14th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – The older form envesture is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1303 – Investiture appears in Anglo-Norman.^[10]
• 1460 – First record in continental French.^[3][6][2]
• 1587 – It is used in the military sense of investing a place.^[2]
• 1946 – The constitutional sense of a parliament's vote of confidence appears.^[2]
• 1949 – It is used of a party's choice of a candidate.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) The formal act putting someone in possession of a fief or an ecclesiastical dignity, often with a symbolic ceremony: l'investiture d'un fief, l'investiture d'un évêché.^[4][11][6]
2. Querelle des Investitures: the Investiture Controversy between the popes and the German emperors.^[11][8]
3. (politics) The act by which a party officially names its candidate for an election: recevoir l'investiture de son parti.^[11][12][13]
4. (politics) In a parliamentary system, the procedure by which parliament gives its confidence to a new head of government.^[12][6]
5. (obsolete) The investment of a stronghold.^[8][2]

Related words

• investir
• investissement
• vêtir
• Medieval Latin investītūra
• English investiture

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)