populiste

Forms

populiste (plural populistes)^[1]

Etymology

It is a calque, borrowed from English populist, from the name of the People's Party or Populist Party of the United States (1891 to 1908), whose French name, with this adjective, appears in 1892.^[2] The word is built on Latin populus (“people”) with the suffix -iste.^[3][4][5]

The older TLFi and Rey treat it as a learned French formation from the Latin word, recorded in the “Larousse mensuel” of 1907, and note the English party name as a parallel.^[3][4] The TLF-Étym's revised notice instead dates it to 1892, as a copy of the English word, and shows that its use for the Russian agrarian socialists (1897) also translated a Russian term while reusing the French form already in use.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

On 16 November 1892 Le Temps reports that a woman lawyer has been elected in Montana as the candidate of the parti populiste, the American People's Party.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 1890s the word was used of the American party and its members.^[2] From 1897 it was also used of the members of the Russian socialist movement that put the peasant at its centre.^[2] It was then extended to European parties with “people” in their name, such as the German Volkspartei (1920 for the noun).^[2]

In 1929 Léon Lemonnier and André Thérive took it for a literary movement that set out to depict the life of the common people, the roman populiste;^[2][3][6] Lemonnier insisted that the word had no political meaning for them.^[2][3][6] A first Salon populiste of painters was held in Paris in 1933, and a prize for the populist novel was founded.^[2]

In political science it later came to describe a politician or movement claiming to speak directly for the people against the elites, often with a demagogic tone (1963 for the adjective, 1985 for the noun).^[2] Rey dates this use mainly from the 1970s, and especially since 2000.^[4]

Timeline

• 1892 – Le Temps speaks of the American parti populiste; the noun is found the same year.^[2]
• 1897 – Used of the Russian agrarian socialists.^[2]
• 1906 – The Larousse illustré supplement is the first dictionary to record it.^[2]
• 1907 – The Larousse mensuel has it for the Russian party.^[3][4][5]
• 1929 – Lemonnier speaks of romanciers populistes.^[3][6][2]
• 1933 – The first Salon populiste is held in Paris.^[2]
• 1963 – First record of the modern political sense.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literature, art) Inspired by populisme: depicting the life and feelings of ordinary people: roman populiste, Prix populiste.^[7][3][8]
2. (politics) populist: claiming to represent the will of the people directly, against the elites; demagogic: la droite populiste.^[7][8][2]
3. (history) Relating to the American People's Party, or to the Russian agrarian socialists.^[2][3]

Noun

1. A supporter of populism; a populist politician.^[7][9][2]
2. A novelist or artist of the populist school.^[2]

Related words

• populisme
• peuple
• populaire
• Latin populus
• English populist

References

1. ^ 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 t Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)