prévalent

Forms

prévalent (feminine prévalente, masculine plural prévalents, feminine plural prévalentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French prévaloir, formed after the Latin present participle praevalēns.^[2][3] Féraud supposed in 1788 that it was borrowed from the English word prevalent (recorded from 1576), and Rey does not rule this out.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Leibniz uses it once in the Essais de théodicée (1710).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

After this isolated record the word was taken up again before 1788, in an Histoire d'Angleterre quoted by Féraud, in the sense “prevailing, predominant”, said of abstract things.^[2][3] Littré records it in that sense.^[4] In psychology, idée prévalente is a preoccupation, not necessarily delusional, to which a person attaches excessive importance.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1710 – Isolated first record, in Leibniz's Essais de théodicée.^[2]
• Before 1788 – It reappears in an Histoire d'Angleterre cited by Féraud.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. prevailing, predominant, of an abstract thing: une opinion prévalente.^[2][4]
2. (psychology) Idée prévalente: a preoccupation to which a person attaches excessive importance.^[2]

Related words

• prévaloir
• prévalence
• Latin praevaleō
• English prevalent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF