Etymologically
Log in

partisan

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word partisan

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1477–1479 Guillaume Leseur, Histoire de Gaston IV, comte de Foix More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Italian partigiano
Ultimate origin
Latin pars
From the same root
English bipartisan ← partisan

Pronunciation

  • /paʁ.ti.zɑ̃/[1]

Forms

partisan m (plural partisans, feminine partisane)[1] Middle French partysan (1477–1479), feminine partisanne (about 1500).[2][3] A feminine partisante is used as an adjective, mostly in popular speech.[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian partigiano (“one who takes the side of a group or person”), recorded in Italian since the 14th century,[2] formed with the suffix -igiano (as in artigiano, the source of artisan) from parte (“part”), from Latin pars (“part”).[2][3][5][6] Littré instead derived it from partire (“to divide, share”).[7] The TLFi and the Petit Robert date the first record to 1477–1479, Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert to 1483.[2][4][6][5]

The sense “tax farmer” comes from parti in the sense of the share assigned to those who farmed taxes or supplies for the State.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as partysan in 1477–1479, in Guillaume Leseur's history of Gaston IV, count of Foix, for a person attached to a party, a person or a group, a supporter.[2][3] The feminine partisanne follows about 1500 in Commynes;[2] Littré quotes him: grande partisane des François “a great supporter of the French”.[7]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it first meant “taking the side of, declaring for” (1580, Montaigne: ville partizane pour Caesar).[2][3] In 1616 d'Aubigné uses it pejoratively for what shows party spirit, a nuance it shares with partial.[2][3]

From 1573 (Michel de L'Hospital) a partisan was also a financier who farmed a tax and advanced its amount to the State.[2][3] This use was common in the 17th century and often pejorative, the greed of the great financiers being a popular theme;[3] Pasquier called them une vermine de gens “a vermin of people”.[7]

In a quite different field, the word named a soldier in a small detached unit (1678, Guillet) and then a fighter outside the regular army (1827, Chateaubriand);[2][3] in the Resistance of 1940–1945 it was joined with franc-tireur in the name Francs-tireurs et Partisans.[3] In Quebec the noun is used for the supporters of a sports team.[3]

English took partisan from French in the 1550s, for a zealous supporter, and used it in military senses from the 1690s.[8]

Timeline

  • 1477–1479 – Partysan “supporter” appears in Leseur's history of Gaston IV.[2]
  • c. 1500 – Commynes uses the feminine partisanne.[2][3]
  • 1550s – English borrows partisan.[8]
  • 1573 – Michel de L'Hospital uses it for a tax farmer.[2][3]
  • 1580 – Montaigne uses it as an adjective, “taking the side of”.[2]
  • 1616 – D'Aubigné uses the adjective for party spirit.[2][3]
  • 1640 – It is used of a supporter of a doctrine.[4]
  • 1678 – Guillet records it for a soldier in a small detached unit.[2]
  • 1827 – Chateaubriand uses it for an irregular fighter.[2]
  • 1934 – The derivative partisanerie is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person attached and devoted to someone or to a party, a supporter or follower: les partisans du roi.[4][9][2]
  2. A person who supports a doctrine or cause, an advocate: les partisans de la réforme.[4][9]
  3. (historical) Before 1789, a financier who farmed a tax from the State, a tax farmer.[4][9]
  4. A fighter who does not belong to a regular army, a guerrilla; also a fighter recruited by a regular army into irregular units: guerre de partisans.[9][7][4]
  5. (Quebec) A fan of a sports team.[3][1]

Adjective

  1. Showing party spirit or fixed, preconceived opinions, partisan, biased: un journal partisan.[10][1]
  2. Être partisan de: to be in favour of something, or, with an infinitive, of doing something.[10][4]

Usage notes

The feminine noun partisane is rare and was criticised by several grammarians.[3][4] The derivative partisanerie “party spirit, partisan action” is rare except in Quebec French.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Partisan.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/partisan. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·