objet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔb.ʒɛ/^[1]

Forms

objet m (plural objets)^[1] Middle French object.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin obiectum (“thing that affects the senses”), a scholastic term, literally “what is placed before”, the neuter past participle used as a noun of Latin obiciō (“to throw before, put before; to oppose”), from ob- (“before, against”) and iaciō (“to throw”) (see jeter).^{[4][2][5][6][7]} In scholastic Latin “objectum” was opposed to “subjectum” (see sujet).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme, in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–72), uses object for anything that affects the senses, especially sight, and for whatever is the matter of the mind's activity.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was used above all of what affects sight, an appearance or sight, and of a mental image (about 1587).^[2] From Ronsard (1556) it named the cause of a feeling, especially the beloved (l'objet de mes vœux), and, from 1612 the aim of desire or effort, whence avoir pour objet and the subject matter of a study (Pascal).^[4][2] Descartes (1647) uses it philosophically for what exists independently of the mind.^[4]

The everyday sense, a material thing, appears late: objets de frivolité (Necker, 1784), objet d'art (1831).^[4] Grammar uses it for the direct complement (Condillac, 1798, complément d'objet, 1922), law for what a right or contract bears on (Code civil, 1804), and psychoanalysis for the object of a drive (1920s).^[4][8]

Timeline

• 1370–72 – Object, what affects the senses, Oresme.^[4]
• 1556 – The cause of a feeling, Ronsard.^[4]
• 1612 – An aim, Régnier.^[4]
• 1647 – Philosophical sense, Descartes.^[4]
• 1784 – A material thing, Necker.^[4]
• 1798 – Grammatical object, Condillac.^[4]
• 1831 – Objet d'art, Michelet.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An object, a thing, especially a made thing: des objets en bois, objet d'art, objets trouvés, lost property.^[9][1]
2. The object (of a feeling, an action): être l'objet de critiques, faire l'objet de.^[9][1]
3. An aim, purpose; the subject matter (of a study): avoir pour objet.^[1][4]
4. (philosophy) What exists independently of the knowing subject.^[4][2]
5. (grammar) The object: complément d'objet direct.^[1][4]
6. (computing) An object in object-oriented programming.^[1]
7. The subject line of a letter or e-mail.^[1]

Word family

• objectif
• objectivité

Related words

• objecter
• objection
• sujet
• projet
• jeter
• English object

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 264b
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert