policier

Forms

policier (feminine policière, masculine plural policiers, feminine plural policières)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French police + -ier.^[2][3][4][5] That noun was borrowed in the 14th century from Late Latin politia (“organisation of a state, administration”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “citizenship; government”), itself from πόλις (pólis, “city”).^[4] The adjective first followed the noun's old sense “government of a city”; the modern word was formed again after its later sense “force keeping public order”.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave records it in 1611, in an isolated use, meaning “concerning the administration or government of a town or territory”.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

As a noun for a member of the police it appears in 1753 in Fougeret de Monbron's Le Cosmopolite, and was long a familiar and disparaging term, as Littré notes.^[2][6][7] The adjective took the sense “concerning the police” in 1836 and “belonging to the police” in 1898.^[2][6][4]

Roman policier (1908, Gaston Leroux), which followed English detective novel, established itself only after other names such as roman judiciaire; elliptically, un policier is a detective novel (1949), clipped in slang to polar (1970).^[2][6] Chien policier dates from 1911, and État policier and régime policier describe a state that relies on its police.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1611 – Cotgrave records the adjective in the old sense of police.^[2]
• 1753 – The noun “member of the police”, in Fougeret de Monbron.^[2]
• 1836 – “Concerning the police”.^[2][4]
• 1898 – “Belonging to the police”, in Jean Lorrain.^[2]
• 1908 – Roman policier, in Gaston Leroux.^[2]
• 1911 – Chien policier.^[2]
• 1949 – Un policier “a detective novel”, in Marcel Aymé.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or belonging to the police: une enquête policière, une bavure policière, chien policier, a police dog, État policier, a police state.^[8][2]
2. Of fiction or films about a crime and its investigation: roman policier, film policier.^[8][2]

Noun

1. A police officer; the feminine is policière, or policier for a woman.^[8][1]
2. A detective novel or film.^[8][1]

Word family

• polar

Related words

• police
• policer
• policé
• policeman

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 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 130b
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert