junte

Forms

junte f (plural juntes)^[1] First juncte (1581), then junta (1665) and junte (1669).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish junta (“assembly, meeting”), recorded in Spanish from 1055 and used especially of administrative or judicial assemblies and of bodies chosen to run a community's affairs.^[2][3] The Spanish word is the feminine of junto (“joined”) used as a noun, from Latin iūnctus (“joined”), the past participle of iungō (“to join”), the source of French joindre.^[2][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1581, as juncte, in the municipal records of Bayonne, naming certain councils or assemblies in Spain and Portugal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word named only Spanish or Portuguese councils, administrative or consultative bodies such as a council of commerce or of health.^[3][2] Balzac used it figuratively in 1831, calling the French press a kind of permanent junte.^[2][3]

A sense “dictatorial government” is recorded in 1871.^[2] The Spanish word could name an organ of subversion as well as of consultation, and the 20th-century pronunciamientos of Primo de Rivera and Franco gave it the sense of a regime set up by a provisional body, usually a military dictatorship, especially in Latin America.^[3] In French the modern sense “military government that has seized power in a coup” is recorded from 1959, alongside putsch.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1055 – Spanish junta “assembly” is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1581 – French juncte appears in the records of Bayonne.^[2]
• 1665 – Bassompierre writes junta.^[2]
• 1669 – The form junte appears in a journal of a voyage to Spain.^[2]
• 1831 – Balzac uses it figuratively of the French press.^[2][3]
• 1871 – Recorded in the sense “dictatorial government”.^[2][3]
• 1959 – The Robert records the sense “military government after a coup”.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated, administration) An administrative council or assembly in Spain or Portugal.^[2][7]
2. A government that has taken power in a military coup, especially in Spain and Latin America: une junte militaire.^[2][8]

Related words

• joindre
• joint¹
• Spanish junta

Usage notes

Littré gives the pronunciation as jon-t /ʒɔ̃t/, and the GLLF has both /ʒɔ̃t/ and /ʒœ̃t/.^[6][7]

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 q 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert