magnat

Forms

magnat m (plural magnats)^[1] First found in the plural magnates (1541).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin magnātēs (“the great, the powerful”), a plural found from the Vulgate on, formed on magnus (“great”), probably after prīmātēs.^[2][3][4] The title of the Polish and Hungarian high nobility (1732) comes from the administrative Latin of those countries, perhaps through German Magnat;^[2][5] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert call it a Polish word (Polish magnat).^[6][7]

The sense “powerful capitalist” (1895) was taken from the American English word magnate,^[2][3][5][8] which Rey and Bloch and Wartburg say was itself borrowed from the French word.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1541 Michel de Tours, translating Suetonius, uses the plural magnates for “the great, the powerful”; the word appears only here and there in the 16th century, where the usual word was grands.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Richelet's dictionary of 1732 records magnat as a rank of the nobility in Poland and Hungary, explaining it from Latin magnus.^[2][3] Mirabeau used it in 1760 for a powerful man in general,^[2][9] but this use died out in the 19th century.^[9] It came back in 1895, in Bourget, as a loan of the American sense “big capitalist”, which is now the usual one, often with a pejorative shade and followed by de and the field of business.^[2][3][9]

Timeline

• 1541 – The plural magnates “the great” appears in Michel de Tours.^[2][3]
• 1732 – Richelet records it as a Polish and Hungarian title.^[2][9]
• 1760 – Mirabeau uses magnats for the powerful.^[2]
• 1838 – Used of the magnates of Hungary.^[5]
• 1895 – Bourget uses it for a big capitalist.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A member of the high nobility of Poland or Hungary, and his title.^[2][7]
2. (often pejorative) A very rich and powerful capitalist or industrialist, a tycoon: un magnat de la presse.^[2][7][1]

Related words

• magnifique
• majeur
• Latin magnus
• English magnate

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives the pronunciation [magna], with [maɲa] as familiar.^[6]

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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 45b
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 82a
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse