position

Forms

position f (plural positions)^[1] Old French posicion.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin positiō (“a placing, setting; position, situation; frame of mind; thesis; grammatical ending”),^{[3][2][4][5][6]} the noun of action formed on positum, the supine of pōnō (“to place, put”) (see pondre, positif).^[2][7] In Latin it applied especially to planting and grafting, and by metonymy to a place or situation.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose (1269–78) has posicions for the situation or place of a thing.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Beaumanoir (1283) has it for the points argued in a lawsuit, and Eustache Deschamps (1392) as a grammatical term, syllabe longue par position is in Furetière (1690).^[3][2] From the 17th century the word took many special values: the way a thing is placed (François de Sales, 1616), the bearing of the body in painting (1668), dance (1690), riding (1762) and music (1768), the siting of a building (1690), and astronomy (1690).^[3][2] The military sense, ground chosen to hold troops, appears in 1798, with position-clef (1941) and position stratégique (1952) later used figuratively.^[3][2]

Of persons it came to mean a set of circumstances (Voltaire, 1751), a social situation (Rousseau, 1774), être en position de (Balzac, 1830), a paid post (Balzac, 1846), a stance or point of view (Balzac, 1841) and, euphemistically, être dans une position intéressante “to be pregnant” (Zola, 1887).^[3][8] Modern technical uses include feux de position on a vehicle (1906) and banking (1930).^[3]

Timeline

• 1269–78 – “Place, situation”, Jean de Meun.^[3]
• 1283 – Legal theses, Beaumanoir.^[3]
• 1392 – Grammar, Eustache Deschamps.^[3]
• 1616 – “Manner of placing”, François de Sales.^[3]
• 1690 – Astronomy; dance, Furetière.^[3]
• 1798 – Military position, Académie.^[3]
• 1841 – “Point of view”, Balzac.^[3]
• 1846 – “Job, post”, Balzac.^[3]
• 1887 – Position intéressante, Zola.^[3]
• 1906 – Feux de position.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The way a thing or person is placed; position, posture: position verticale, en position assise.^[9][1]
2. A place, location; a rank in a classification: arriver en première position.^[9]
3. (military) Ground held by troops: position stratégique, guerre de position.^[3][7]
4. A situation, circumstances: être en position de force, être en position de, to be in a position to.^[3][9]
5. Social standing, (dated) a post, situation.^[3][7]
6. A stance, point of view: prendre position.^[3][9]
7. (finance) The balance of an account.^[3]

Word family

• positionner
• positionnement
• repositionner

Related words

• poser
• positif
• pondre

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 230b
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert