livraison

Forms

livraison f (plural livraisons)^[1] Old French livreisun, livreison, livrison; the spelling livraison is first found in 1630.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French livrer + -aison.^[2][3][5][6] Littré instead derived it from Latin līberātiōnem, and Wiktionary allows that it may correspond to that Latin form; the learned libération is the borrowed doublet.^[4][1] The verb is from Latin līberō (“to set free”), which in popular Latin came to mean to let go, then to hand over or supply.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan liurazon.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Geffrei Gaimar's history of the English about 1140, is livreisun in the sense of wages or pay;^[2][7] Wace uses livrison for a provision or ration.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Chrétien de Troyes (1165–1170) the word already has the general sense of handing over what has been asked for, and faire livraison de son cors was said of a woman granting her favours.^[2][8] Medieval texts also use it for daily rations, as in a chronicle that counts twelve beans of livrison a day.^[4]

The commercial sense, the handing over of goods sold, is recorded from 1535 and became the main one; by metonymy the word named the goods delivered (1800).^[2][8] The stock exchange took it up for the handing over of securities.^[2][7] In publishing, from 1752, it is each instalment of a work issued in parts.^[2][8] International politics has recently revived the old sense of handing over a person or thing to someone.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Livreisun “wages” in Geffrei Gaimar.^[2][8]
• 1165–1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses livreison for the handing over of what was asked.^[2]
• 1535 – Livrison is used of the delivery of goods sold.^[2][5]
• 1630 – The spelling livraison appears in Sully.^[2][3]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records it for an instalment of a publication.^[2][7]
• 1800 – Boiste records the sense “goods delivered”.^[2]
• 1826 – First use on the stock exchange.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The delivery of goods to the buyer or the person they are meant for: payable à la livraison, prendre livraison “to collect goods oneself”.^[5][2]
2. The goods delivered.^[5][2]
3. (finance) The handing over of securities sold on the stock exchange.^[4][7]
4. Each instalment of a work published in parts.^[5][4]
5. The handing over of a person or thing to someone, as of offenders under a treaty.^[2][8]

Related words

• livrer
• livrée
• libération
• Latin līberō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b 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 e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert