ministériel

Forms

ministériel (feminine ministérielle, masculine plural ministériels, feminine plural ministérielles)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French ministère + -iel, with ministre also as its base, after Late Latin ministeriālis, which in Christian Latin meant “in the service of God” (before 470).^[2][3][1] The Late Latin adjective comes from minister (“servant”).^[2][4] It ousted the older form Middle French ministerial, found as a noun meaning “officer of justice” from 1284 and as an adjective meaning “charged with administering” from 1524.^[2][3] Wiktionary names ménestrel as its doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi dates it to 1593, in Pierre Crepet's Le Triomphe des Saincts, meaning “relating to an office or function”.^[2][3] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and the GLLF date it about 1580, from Marnix, in the sense “governing by delegation”.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “relating to an office”, has mostly given way to the senses of ministre: “relating to the government” (before 1622) and “relating to a minister or ministry” (1766).^[3][2] The old sense survives in law in officier ministériel, a public officer such as a notary or bailiff, already in the Civil Code of 1804.^[2][6]

From 1775 it also meant “supporting the ministry in office”, used in a report from London,^[2][3][7] and as a noun for a supporter of the government from 1789.^[4][7] The late 18th century formed ministérialiste and ministérialisme (1796) for these supporters and their stance,^[3][2] and the prefixed antiministériel (1740) and interministériel (1905, Péguy) followed.^[3]

Timeline

• 1284 – The older form ministerial is recorded as a noun for an officer of justice.^[2][3]
• c. 1580 – Marnix uses ministériel for “governing by delegation”.^[4][5]
• 1593 – Pierre Crepet uses it for “relating to an office”.^[2]
• before 1622 – Used for “relating to the government”.^[3]
• 1766 – Used for “relating to a minister or ministry”.^[2][3]
• 1775 – Used for “supporting the ministry”.^[2][7]
• 1804 – The Civil Code uses officier ministériel.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Ministerial: relating to the government or cabinet: crise ministérielle, remaniement ministériel.^[6][2]
2. Relating to a ministry or coming from a minister: arrêté ministériel.^[6][8]
3. (dated) Supporting the government in office.^[6][2]
4. (law) Officier ministériel: a public officer with the sole right to carry out certain acts, such as a notary or bailiff.^[2][6][9]
5. (abusive) Of the minister: Le cortège ministériel a traversé la ville.^[6]

Word family

• ministérialisme
• interministériel
• antiministériel

Related words

• ministre
• ministère
• ménestrel
• Latin minister

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 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert 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. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette