mayeur

Forms

mayeur m (plural mayeurs, feminine mayeure)^[1] Also spelt maïeur; feminine mayeure, maïeure.^[1][2] Old French major, maior and maor, later maieur (Joinville) and mayeur (15th century).^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French maior (“greater”) used as a noun, the oblique case of the Old French adjective maire,^[3][4] inherited from Latin maior (“greater”), in its accusative, the comparative of magnus (“great”).^[3][1][5] maire is the same word in its subject-case form;^[6] Rey notes that the two forms competed for the head of a town's corporation until they lost their case value.^[6] majeur and major are later doublets.^[1][3] In Belgian French the word is taken from Walloon and Picard mayeûr.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–74) as major, maior, for an officer of a lord's domain, or perhaps a town magistrate.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the mayeur or maïeur was the first magistrate of a town, the equivalent of the maire in many northern and eastern towns,^[3][5][4] and by extension the head of a guild (maïeurs de bannières).^[3][2] Wiktionary also records it for a judicial officer of a feudal manor.^[1] The word is now historical in France,^[3][2] but in Belgium, especially in the west of French-speaking Wallonia, it is the familiar name of the head of a commune, elsewhere called bourgmestre.^[4][7][2]

Timeline

• 1160–74 – Major, maior “domain officer” in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[3]
• 1225 – The form maor is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1290 – Used for the head of a town, in the Livre Roisin of Lille.^[4]
• 1461 – A maieur principal of the town of Hesdin is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) The first magistrate of a town in the Middle Ages, a mayor.^[3][2]
2. (historical) The head of a medieval guild.^[3][2]
3. (Belgium, familiar) The mayor of a commune, the bourgmestre: le mayeur a inauguré la nouvelle école.^[7][4][1]

Related words

• mayorat
• maïorat
• mayoral
• maïoral
• maire
• majeur
• major
• Latin maior

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Base de données lexicographiques panfrancophone (BDLP), Trésor de la langue française au Québec / Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, bdlp.org