mobiliser

Forms

mobiliser^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French mobile + -iser.^[2][1][3] The adjective is from Latin mobilis (“movable”).^[3][4]

The TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg date the verb to 1765, in the Encyclopédie; the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and the DHLF give 1787, from Féraud.^[2][3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It began as a legal term, “to declare movable property”, a synonym of ameublir and the opposite of immobiliser.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In finance, a public debt was mobilisée in 1797.^[2] In the 19th century the verb passed into military language as “to put on a war footing” (1834); the participle was used as an adjective about 1845 and as a noun (un mobilisé) in 1880.^[2][6]

From there it widened to “to requisition, make use of” (1879), “to bring into play” (1893), “to call on the members of a group” (1898) and “to enlist someone's help” (1900).^[2][6] In medicine it means to move a joint or limb (1914) and in surgery to free an organ (1963).^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1765 – The Encyclopédie uses it in law, “to declare movable”.^[2][7]
• 1771 – The noun mobilisation appears.^[6]
• 1787 – Féraud records the verb.^[5][6]
• 1797 – A law speaks of the dette publique mobilisée.^[2]
• 1834 – Boiste records the military sense.^[2][3]
• 1842 – Démobiliser is recorded.^[3]
• 1880 – Maupassant uses mobilisé as a noun.^[2]
• 1898 – Huysmans uses it for calling on a party's members.^[2]
• 1963 – A surgical sense is recorded by Larousse.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (military) To put an army on a war footing, to call up citizens for military service: mobiliser les réservistes.^[8][9][7]
2. To call on a group for a collective effort: le club a mobilisé tous ses bénévoles.^[8][2]
3. To bring into play, to marshal one's faculties or resources: mobiliser son énergie.^[8][2]
4. (law) To declare movable by agreement what is real property;^[8][7] (finance) to assign a claim in order to raise cash.^[8][7]
5. (medicine) To move a joint or limb;^[2][7] (surgery) to free an organ.^[2][7]

Word family

• mobilisation
• mobilisable
• démobiliser

Related words

• mobile
• immobiliser
• Latin mobilis

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 3b
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 h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)