libéralisme

Forms

libéralisme m (plural libéralismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French libéral + -isme.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} libéral itself is from Latin līberālis (“befitting a free man”).^[3] As a political term, the adjective first appears in Maret's proclamation of 17 Brumaire and Bonaparte's of 19 Brumaire (1799).^[3] The English word liberalism is recorded from 1819.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates it from 1816; the first quotation in the TLFi is from Maine de Biran's Journal (1818), in the sense “doctrine favourable to the growth of freedoms”.^[6][2][4][5] Quemada found it the same year in the Petite chronique de Paris.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the doctrine of the French liberals of the Restoration, who stood for political freedom and freedom of thought;^[6][8] Hugo called Romanticism “liberalism in literature”.^[6][8] It then took its modern political and economic sense, a doctrine that limits the role of the State, in opposition to étatisme and socialisme; the GLLF dates this sense from the Larousse of 1931.^[6][8][5]

In the last decades of the 20th century libéralisme, like libéral, came to stand for the doctrine and system of financial capitalism, with compounds in néo- and ultra- expressing excess.^[6] By extension it also means a liberal, tolerant frame of mind, sometimes influenced by libéralité “generosity”; the GLLF finds this in Anatole France before 1924.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1816 – First record of libéralisme.^[6][5]
• 1818 – Maine de Biran uses it of the doctrine favourable to freedoms.^[2][4]
• 1819 – The English liberalism is recorded.^[2]
• 1823 – Boiste's dictionary records it.^[8][7]
• 1878 – The Académie admits it.^[7]
• 1931 – Larousse records the economic sense, a doctrine limiting the role of the State.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The doctrine of the liberals, who favour political freedom and freedom of conscience; more generally, the doctrines that guarantee individual liberties.^[5][8][2]
2. The economic doctrine of free enterprise and free competition, hostile to State intervention, opposed to étatisme and socialisme.^[5][8][6]
3. A liberal, tolerant attitude: Le directeur a fait preuve de libéralisme envers ses élèves.^[2][8][6]
4. The practice of a profession on a private, independent basis, as in libéralisme médical.^[2]

Word family

• ultralibéralisme
• néolibéralisme
• antilibéralisme

Related words

• libéral
• libéralité
• liberté
• Latin līberālis
• English liberalism

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse