Etymologically
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organiser

Etymology and origin of the French word organiser

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
14th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (ὄργανον)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔʁ.ɡa.ni.ze/[1]

Forms

organiser[1]

Etymology

It is from French organe + -iser, a learned formation.[2][3][4][5] Organe is borrowed from Latin organum (“instrument; organ”), from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “instrument”).[5] Wiktionary instead traces it to Medieval Latin organizō.[1]

The Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg date the verb to the 14th century, in the sense “to make fit for life”;[3][5][4] the TLFi's first record of “to provide with organs” is from 1510–1520.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A 14th-century poem, L'Alchimiste à nature, says that our bodies are si très bien organisez, fitted with organs and made fit for life.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The idea of giving matter the arrangement of a living body was extended to giving any whole a structure: Sieyès uses it in this sense in 1789, and the political and administrative uses (organiser une armée, organiser le travail) spread with the Revolution.[2][3][4] Mercier has “to arrange, prepare (an event)” in 1801, and Cocteau “to submit (one's life, one's time) to a method” in 1929.[2]

The past participle organisé meant “having such and such a physical or moral disposition” in Madame de Sévigné (1672),[2] and “belonging to an organization” in Michelet (1847).[2]

Timeline

  • 14th century – “To make fit for life”, in L'Alchimiste à nature.[6][3]
  • 1510–1520 – “To provide with organs”.[2]
  • 1672 – Organisé of a person's disposition, in Madame de Sévigné.[2]
  • 1694 – The Académie records the verb.[2]
  • 1789 – “To give a structure to”, in Sieyès.[2]
  • 1801 – “To arrange, prepare”, in Mercier.[2]
  • 1929 – “To submit to a method”, in Cocteau.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give a structure or a way of working to: organiser le travail, organiser la résistance.[4][7]
  2. To plan and prepare (an event or action): organiser une fête, organiser un voyage.[4][8]
  3. To arrange (one's time, one's life) according to a method.[4][2]
  4. S'organiser: to take shape; of a person, to arrange one's activities efficiently.[4]
  5. (dated) To give matter the structure of a living body.[3][6]

Word family

  • organisation
  • organisateur
  • désorganiser
  • réorganiser

Usage notes

A separate, older verb organiser “to play the organ”, from Medieval Latin organizō, was used from the 14th to the 17th century.[2][6]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Organiser.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/organiser. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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