partenaire

Forms

partenaire m or f by sense (plural partenaires)^[1] First written partner (1767), a spelling used into the 19th century; also parthenaire (1773).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English partner, borrowed in 1767.^[2][4][3][5] The English word, recorded from the late 13th century as Middle English partener, is an alteration under the influence of part of parcener (“joint holder, associate”).^[2][4][6] That word was taken from Anglo-Norman parcener (1230–50), the counterpart of Old French parçonier (about 1100, as parçuner in the Roland), derived from parçon (“share, booty”).^[2][4][7] The noun is the inherited doublet of partition, from Latin partītiō (“sharing, division”).^[4][3][8]

Littré traced the English word to Late Latin partitionarius.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1767 the English spelling partner was used both in Diderot's letters, of someone who shares something with others, and in a letter of Madame du Deffand, of a dancing partner.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The form partenaire appears from 1781, in Beaumarchais, for a business associate, though partner remained the usual spelling until the 19th century.^[2][4] Dictionaries first recorded it as a term of games and sport, a teammate (1773), and of dance.^[2][4] The sense “lover” is found in Stendhal in 1822.^[2] On stage it named the person an actor performs with from 1903 (Anatole France), though partner had that sense as early as 1770.^[2][4][10]

The word entered general dictionaries only with the Larousse of 1923, and the Académie gave the general sense in 1935.^[4] The sense “a person or body sharing interests with others” has spread again in commerce and economics under English influence.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Old French parçuner “associate” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][7]
• 1767 – Partner is used by Diderot and by Madame du Deffand.^[2]
• 1773 – Parthenaire is used of a partner in a game.^[2]
• 1781 – Beaumarchais writes partenaire for a business associate.^[2][4]
• 1822 – Stendhal uses partner of a lover.^[2]
• 1903 – Anatole France uses it of a stage partner.^[2][10]
• 1923 – The Larousse records it.^[4][10]
• 1935 – The Académie records the general sense.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A partner in a game, a person one plays with against other players: mon partenaire à la belote.^[11][2]
2. A person one dances, skates or performs with, or works with in a sport or profession.^[11][2]
3. A sexual or romantic partner.^[11][2]
4. A person, company or country with interests in common with another, an associate: Les deux pays sont des partenaires commerciaux.^[4][2]

Related words

• part
• partition
• English partner

References

1. ^ a b 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 r s 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 91b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 691b
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert