Etymology and origin of the French word maîtrise
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 1165 Guillaume d'Angleterre More words from the 12th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin magister
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
maîtrise f (plural maîtrises)[1] Old French mestrise and maistrise; the spelling maîtrise dates from the 16th century.[2][3][4]
Etymology
It is formed from French maître + -ise.[5][1][3][6] Old French also had maistrie “authority, power; art, skill”,[5][7] which Littré compares with Old Occitan maestria, Spanish maestría and Italian maestria.[7] Maître goes back to Latin magister.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
Its first record, about 1165 in Guillaume d'Angleterre, attributed to Chrétien de Troyes, is in the sense “command of a ship”.[5][6][2]
Semantic evolution
The word names the quality of a master in the various senses of maître.[6] By the late 12th century it meant the skill and superiority of a master (before 1191), a sense that spread mostly from the 19th century.[5][6] From the 13th century it named a charge or dignity at court or in an order of knighthood (1267), then also the rank of master in a craft guild (1454); in 1776 Condillac uses it for the body of masters who governed a guild,[5][6] the sense behind agents de maîtrise (1941), foremen and supervisors.[5] The sense “authority, power” is found about 1350.[5]
The musical sense comes from the maître de chapelle, the choirmaster: a choir school (1634), the choirmaster's lodging and school (1743), and his post in a cathedral (1835).[6][5] Only recently did it take the sense of self-control (1907) and of free control of a thing (about 1924–1930).[6][5][4] In France it named from 1966 a university degree taken after the licence;[6] in Canada it is a master's degree.[1] In sub-Saharan Africa the degree gave the derivative maîtrisard “holder of a maîtrise”.[6]
Timeline
- c. 1165 – Guillaume d'Angleterre uses it for the command of a ship.[5][6]
- before 1191 – Le Vengement Alixandre uses it for a master's skill.[5][2]
- 1267 – It names a charge or dignity, in a Champagne cartulary.[5]
- c. 1350 – It means authority, power.[5]
- 1454 – It names the rank of master craftsman.[5]
- 16th century – The spelling maîtrise appears.[3][2][4]
- 1634 – It names a choir school.[6]
- 1743 – The Trévoux dictionary records the choirmaster's lodging and school.[5]
- 1776 – Condillac uses it for the body of masters of a guild.[5]
- 1893 – Maîtrise de conférences is recorded.[5]
- 1907 – It first means self-control.[6][4]
- 1941 – Agents de maîtrise appears in Marcel Aymé.[5]
- 1966 – It names a French university degree.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- (rare) Domination, the authority of one who commands.[4][5]
- Maîtrise de soi: self-control, composure.[4][9][10]
- Military supremacy over a place: la maîtrise des mers, la maîtrise de l'air.[9][10][2]
- Mastery of a technique, an art or a subject; sureness in execution.[10][5]
- (historical) The rank of master in a craft guild; the body of masters of a guild.[9][10][7]
- Agents de maîtrise: the foremen and supervisors of a firm, as a group.[9][10][5]
- A choir school attached to a church; the choir itself.[9][10][7]
- The post of choirmaster in a cathedral.[10][7]
- (France) A former university degree taken four years after the baccalauréat;[10][6][1] (Canada) a master's degree.[10][6][1]
- Maîtrise d'ouvrage: the management of a project on the client's side;[4] maîtrise d'œuvre: the technical direction of its execution.[4]
Word family
- maîtriser
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry
“Maîtrise.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ma%C3%AEtrise. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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