praticable

Forms

praticable (plural praticables)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French pratiquer + -able.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The TLFi and Rey compare Medieval Latin practicabilis (“that can be used”) (about 1444), earlier practizabilis (about 1377), and Rey thinks the French word may have been formed after it.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 16th century état praticable named a profession connected with the courts;^[2][6] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the word to 1555, and the GLLF cites a 16th-century pratiquable in Loisel with an unclear sense.^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense, “that can be used or put into practice”, is first recorded in Retz before 1679.^[2][4][6] Classical French also applied it to a sociable person (Madame de Sévigné, 1677).^[2][6]

After the use of pratiquer in architecture, it described from 1694 a place that can be passed through,^[6][2] and in the theatre a piece of scenery one can really go through (1832).^[6][2] As a masculine noun (1835) it named such a piece of scenery,^[2][6] and in cinema and television a platform holding lights or cameras.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1555 – First record, according to the Grand Robert.^[3][7]
• 1677 – Madame de Sévigné uses it of a sociable person.^[2][6]
• Before 1679 – Retz uses it for “that can be put into practice”.^[2][4]
• 1694 – The Académie records the sense “passable”.^[2][6]
• 1832 – Dumas writes of a balcon praticable in a stage set.^[2]
• 1835 – The Académie records the noun.^[2][6]
• 1967 – The TLFi's first record of the noun in cinema;^[8] Quemada's datings cite an earlier one in Cocteau.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be put into practice, feasible: un projet praticable.^[7][2][1]
2. Of a road or place: that can be passed along without difficulty or danger, passable.^[7][2][5]
3. (theatre, architecture) Of a door, window or arcade: real and usable, not merely painted.^[7][5]
4. (dated) Of a person: sociable, easy to deal with.^[5][2]

Noun

1. (theatre) A piece of scenery that can actually be used or walked on.^[7][5][6]
2. (cinema, television) A movable platform carrying lights, cameras or actors.^[6][8]

Word family

• praticabilité

Related words

• pratiquer
• pratique

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF