offensif

Forms

offensif (feminine offensive, masculine plural offensifs, feminine plural offensives)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French offendre (“to attack”) + -if, on the model of défensif and in contrast with it.^[2][3][4][5] The old verb, which meant “to strike against” from about 1120 and “to attack” from about 1160, comes from Latin offendō (“to strike against”).^[6][4][7] It was often paired with défendre, a pairing still found in the 16th century.^[3]

Compare Medieval Latin offēnsīvus, used of weapons in the sense “that attacks” from about 1217.^[2] By meaning the adjective belongs with the old verb rather than with offenser.^[5] Wiktionary instead analyses it as offenser with the suffix -if.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1538 in the Cartulaire de Cysoing, in confédération offensive et deffensive “an alliance for attack and defence”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective qualified a concrete or abstract thing, often in the context of war: weapons, a war, an alliance or a league.^[5][2] It was applied to a combative, aggressive person from 1870.^[5]

Its feminine was used as a noun, offensive, first in the plural (1587), then in the singular (1636), on the model of défensive, for an attack or a large military operation, as in passer à l'offensive.^[5][3] From 1816 an offensive was also a campaign of some scale in diplomacy, and in the 20th century in advertising.^[5]

Timeline

• 1538 – Confédération offensive et deffensive in the Cartulaire de Cysoing.^[2][3]
• 1587 – The noun offensives appears in the plural.^[5]
• Before 1596 – The adverb offensivement is recorded.^[2]
• 1636 – The noun offensive is used in the singular.^[5][3]
• 1718 – The Académie records offensivement.^[2]
• 1816 – Offensive is used of a diplomatic campaign.^[5]
• 1870 – Used of an aggressive, combative person.^[5]
• 1946 – Mounier uses the noun offensivité.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That attacks or serves to attack, as in armes offensives and guerre offensive, a war waged to attack the enemy and not only to hold it back.^[8][2][9]
2. Retour offensif: a renewed attack by troops thought to be retreating; figuratively, a return of something that seemed over, such as cold weather or an illness.^[9][8]
3. Of a treaty or alliance: binding the parties to attack together, as in ligue offensive et défensive.^[8][9][2]
4. Of a person: aggressive, combative, as in ce joueur est très offensif.^[8][5]

Word family

• offensive
• offensivement
• offensivité

Related words

• défensif
• offenser
• offense
• inoffensif
• Latin offendō

Usage notes

An older adjective offensif “offending, apt to offend”, formed from offense, is recorded in 1417 and again in 1491; the Grand Robert and the GLLF list it as a separate word, now archaic or literary, and Littré notes that offensant is used instead.^[4][6][2][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b 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, 330a
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette