procédure

Forms

procédure f (plural procédures)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French procéder + -ure.^[2][3][4][1] The verb procéder is from Latin prōcēdō (“to go forward”), in Picoche's family of cēdō (“to go”).^[5]

The technical sense of a set of steps for carrying out a complex operation (1959) is a semantic loan from the English word procedure “method”, which English had itself taken from French in the old sense “conduct, way of acting”.^[2][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1344, in a document cited by Godefroy, for the forms that must be followed when proceeding at law.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the start a term of law, it soon named the whole body of rules and formalities to be observed in examining and settling a case (1477), and it became a branch of legal practice and study, with procédure civile and procédure criminelle.^[2][6][8] In the 15th and 16th centuries it also meant a person's conduct or way of acting, and after 1639 a way of proceeding to reach a result; this general sense has aged, while procédé kept it.^[2][6]

Under the influence of English, it took the technical sense of the ordered stages of a complex operation (1959), current in aviation, in computing (1968) and in linguistics.^[2][6][9] The derivatives procédurier (1819), often pejorative for someone fond of lawsuits, and procédural (1877) are legal terms.^[6]

Timeline

• 1344 – First record, for the forms of proceeding at law.^[2]
• 1477 – A royal letter uses it for the rules to be observed in a judicial case.^[2]
• 15th–16th century – It also means conduct, a way of behaving.^[2][6]
• 1639 – Malherbe uses it for a way of proceeding to reach a result.^[2]
• 1819 – The derivative procédurier appears.^[6]
• 1877 – Procédural is first recorded, in Littré's Supplement.^[2][6]
• 1959 – The technical sense of the stages of a complex operation appears, after English.^[2][6]
• 1968 – Larousse records the computing sense.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The way of proceeding at law: the rules and formalities that govern a case from its start to the judgment, as in procédure civile, procédure pénale, vice de procédure.^[10][2][4]
2. (law) The acts and documents of a particular case, as in engager une procédure: Les avocats ont demandé l'annulation de la procédure.^[10][8][4]
3. A series of formalities or steps to be gone through with an office or body to obtain something: la procédure à suivre pour obtenir un visa.^[9][10]
4. (technical) The set of methods used to carry out a complex operation, as in procédure d'atterrissage.^[10][2]
5. (computing) A routine, a set of commands carrying out a repeated task.^[10][2]
6. (obsolete) A way of proceeding to reach a result.^[10][2]

Word family

• procédural
• procédurier

Related words

• procéder
• procédé
• procès
• Latin prōcēdō
• English procedure

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert