juré

Forms

juré m (plural jurés, feminine jurée)^[1] Anglo-Norman also joré, jouré and jureis.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French juré, inherited from Latin iūrātus (“one who has sworn, sworn man”), the past participle of iūrō (“to swear”).^[3][4][1] The Medieval Latin noun iūrātus meant a man who had sworn fidelity (late 11th century).^[3] From 1127 the charters granted to the towns of northern France used it for councillors bound by an oath to the lord.^[3][5] The word merged with the past participle of jurer.^[5][6] The sense “member of a jury” is a rendering of English, after jury and probably juryman.^[3][5] The Latin word was later borrowed as jurat, a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Lai du cor (late 12th century), is a man who has sworn fealty to the king, a vassal.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

About 1200 it named a member of a town council who, under oath, held from the lord the powers of administration and justice.^[3][5] From 1260 (Étienne Boileau's book of trades) a juré was a master or journeyman sworn to watch over a trade; hence maître juré, used jokingly by Molière in maître juré filou (1668).^[3][5][7] The adjective is figurative in ennemi juré “sworn enemy”, from 1580 (Montaigne).^[5][7]

The modern sense, a member of the jury of a court, is first used of England (les douze hommes jurez, 1588) and was adopted for France with the Constitution of 1791, when juré could mean both a juror and the jury itself.^[3][5][6]

Timeline

• late 12th century – In the Lai du cor, a sworn vassal of the king.^[3]
• c. 1200 – A sworn member of a town council, in Beuve de Hantone.^[3]
• 1260 – Étienne Boileau uses it for a sworn officer of a trade.^[3]
• 1580 – Ennemi juré appears in Montaigne.^[5][7]
• 1588 – Used of the twelve jurors of an English court.^[3]
• 1668 – Molière's maître juré filou.^[3]
• 1791 – The French Constitution introduces jurés in France.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (historical law) Sworn on admission to a mastership in a guild: maître juré, écrivain juré.^[8][3]
2. Ennemi juré: a sworn, implacable enemy.^[8][7]
3. Promised under oath: la foi jurée.^[7][9]

Noun

1. A juror, a citizen called to sit on a jury; the feminine is jurée.^[8][1]
2. (historical) A sworn officer of a guild or a sworn town councillor.^[8][3]

Related words

• jurer
• jury
• jurat
• jurande
• Latin iūrātus

Usage notes

Promis, juré, craché is an informal oath, “cross my heart”.^[1] In the Channel Islands and some Gascon towns a juré, English jurat, was a magistrate.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette