originalité

Forms

originalité f (plural originalités)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French original + -ité, as a learned derivative.^[2][3][1][4] The adjective, recorded in 1240, is from Latin orīginālis, from orīgō (“origin”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A single late-14th-century record has the sense “lineage, descent”.^[2][5][4] The word as used today is first found in 1699 in Roger de Piles, of the originality of a work.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the quality of a work that copies no model, the word passed to a person's character (Diderot, 1762).^[2] From 1722 it also had the ironic value of “oddness, eccentricity”,^[2][5] following original, which took the sense “strange, odd” in the 17th century.^[3] In the plural it names odd actions: Littré gives il était connu pour ses originalités.^[6] In the 19th century it became a key word of artistic and literary judgement, for the new and personal quality of a writer or artist.^[2][7]

Timeline

• late 14th century – A one-off record with the sense “lineage, extraction”.^[2][8]
• 1699 – Roger de Piles uses it of a painter's work.^[2]
• 1722 – The sense “singularity, oddness” appears in Le Spectateur français.^[2][5]
• 1762 – Diderot writes of originalité de caractère.^[2]
• 1788 – Féraud records a further sense.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of what is original, new and unlike any model: originality.^[7][2][9]
2. The quality of a person who thinks or acts in an independent, personal way: une artiste d'une grande originalité.^[7][2]
3. Eccentricity, oddness of character or manner.^[7][9][6]
4. An original feature or element: c'est l'une des originalités de ce roman.^[7][9]
5. (usually plural) An odd or eccentric action.^[7][6]

Related words

• original
• origine
• originel
• originaire
• Latin orīgō

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)