municipal

Forms

municipal (feminine municipale, masculine plural municipaux, feminine plural municipales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mūnicipālis (“of a municipium”), first recorded in 1527;^[2][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF follow Bloch and Wartburg in giving a first date of 1474.^[4][5][3] The Latin adjective is derived from mūnicipium, a town of Latium or Italy that held Roman citizenship while living by its own laws, itself from mūniceps (“citizen of a municipium”).^[3][2] The citizen was properly “one who takes on the duties”, and the noun is a compound of mūnia (“official duties”), an old form of mūnus (“duty, charge”), and capiō (“to take”).^[3][1]

The term for a Roman institution was applied in French to modern ones from the start, as Old Occitan municipal had been since the late 13th century.^[2] Littré compares Spanish municipal and Italian municipale.^[6] The English word municipal is attested in the Roman sense from 1618.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in F. Dassy's Peregrin (1527), already has the sense “relating to the administration of a town or commune”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word took part in phrases for town officials: officiers municipaux (Furetière, 1690), shortened under the Revolution to the plural noun municipaux (1789).^[2][3] Later came conseil municipal (1842), agent municipal (1845) and maison municipale (1874), the last replaced by mairie.^[3] The 19th-century garde municipal of Paris was popularly called cipal.^[3][7] In Swiss French un municipal (1832) is a member of a town council.^[3]

The Roman sense, “of a municipium”, is used by historians of antiquity from 1636 (Monet).^[2][3] The derivatives appeared in the 18th century, among them municipalité (1758), a sign that the adjective had spread.^[3]

Timeline

• 1527 – F. Dassy uses it for the administration of a commune.^[2]
• 1618 – English municipall is recorded in the Roman sense.^[2]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “of a Roman municipium”.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records officiers municipaux.^[2]
• 1758 – The derivative municipalité appears.^[3]
• 1789 – Municipaux is used as a plural noun for members of a town administration.^[2][8]
• 1842 – First record of conseil municipal.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the administration of a commune, municipal: conseil municipal, élections municipales.^[7][9][2]
2. Belonging to the commune and run by it: La bibliothèque municipale ouvre le samedi.^[7][9]
3. (Roman antiquity) Relating to a municipium (municipe).^[7][2]

Noun

1. (dated) A soldier of the Paris garde municipale, popularly a cipal.^[7][3]
2. (Switzerland) A member of a municipalité.^[3]
3. Les municipales (feminine plural): the municipal elections.^[7][9]

Word family

• municipalité
• municipaliser

Related words

• municipe
• commun
• Latin mūnicipium
• English municipal

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 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 k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)