organisation

Forms

organisation f (plural organisations)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French organiser + -ation.^[2][1][3][4] The verb organiser is a learned derivative of organe with the suffix -iser,^[2] the noun being borrowed from Latin organum, from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “instrument, tool”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it in 1488, in La Mer des histoires, for the state of an organized body.^[2][4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it to 1390, and the GLLF to the end of the 14th century, followed by a gap until Bourguet in 1729.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

At first a term of biology, it named the state of a body having organs and the organs as a whole, a use later taken over by organisme.^[4][2] In 1761 Rousseau used it for a person's physical and moral make-up.^[2][4] It became current in figurative senses: the constitution of an institution (1798, Académie) and the act of organizing (1807, Madame de Staël).^[2][4] Louis Blanc's organisation du travail dates from 1840.^[2]

By metonymy it came to mean an association and the people in it (1908, Sorel).^[2][4] Names of bodies gave common phrases such as Organisation des Nations unies, with its abbreviation O.N.U. and the adjective onusien (1949), and organisation non gouvernementale, abbreviated O.N.G. and usual from the 1990s.^[4] Littré also records a musical sense, the fitting of organ stops to a harpsichord or piano.^[7]

Timeline

• 1390 – The Grand Robert's first date.^[3]
• 1488 – La Mer des histoires uses it for the state of an organized body.^[2]
• 1761 – Rousseau uses it for a person's make-up.^[2][4]
• 1798 – The Académie records the sense “constitution of an institution”.^[2][4]
• 1807 – Madame de Staël uses it for the act of organizing.^[2]
• 1840 – Louis Blanc's organisation du travail.^[2]
• 1908 – Sorel uses it for an organized group.^[2][4]
• 1935 – The derivative organisationnel is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The state of an organized body, and the way it is structured.^[5][2]
2. The act of organizing something, and its result: l'organisation d'un mariage, l'organisation du travail.^[5][2]
3. The way a whole is set up to work: organisation sociale.^[5]
4. An organization, an association with set aims: Organisation des Nations unies, organisation non gouvernementale.^[5][4][1]

Word family

• organisationnel

Related words

• organiser
• organe
• organisme
• organisateur
• désorganisation
• réorganisation
• Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon)

References

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