produit

Forms

produit m (plural produits)^[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle from French produire, used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] Littré gives the participle, meaning “shown, put forward, brought in”, as an entry of its own and derives the noun from it.^[6] Wiktionary also allows a borrowing from Latin prōductus, adapted to French conjugation.^[1] The verb is from Latin prōdūcō (“to lead forward”), refashioned after verbs such as conduire.^[2][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1554, in Pelletier's Algèbre, for the result of a multiplication.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In 1690 Furetière records two new senses: in legal practice the acte de produit, declaring that documents had been filed with the court, and the yield of a property or office, the gain from an activity.^[2][3] The economic sense grew in the 18th century, with produit net (1758), goods produced by agriculture or industry (1734) and the production of a country (1755); in the 20th century came produit intérieur brut and produit national brut.^[3][2]

From the second half of the 18th century, like the other words of the family of produire, it widened to anything resulting from a combination (1754), a chemical substance (1762) and an animal or person seen as the result of breeding or heredity (about 1760).^[3][2][9]

Timeline

• 1554 – “Result of a multiplication”, in Pelletier's Algèbre.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the legal acte de produit and the sense “yield, profit”.^[2][9]
• 1734 – Goods produced by agriculture or industry.^[2][3]
• 1754 – Anything resulting from a combination.^[2][3]
• 1758 – Produit net in economics.^[3]
• 1762 – A chemical product.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mathematics) The product of a multiplication;^[9][2] produit scalaire, produit vectoriel.^[9][2]
2. The yield or income of a property, office or activity: le produit de la vente.^[9][6]
3. (economics) The output of production: produit intérieur brut.^[9][3]
4. Something produced by nature or made by people; goods for sale: produits agricoles, produits manufacturés.^[9][2][1]
5. A chemical substance or mixture;^[9][2] produits de synthèse.^[9][2]
6. (figurative) The result of something: le produit de son imagination.^[9][2]
7. An animal considered from the point of view of its breeding or heredity.^[9][2]
8. (law, dated) Acte de produit, a deed declaring that documents have been filed with the court.^[9][6]

Word family

• sous-produit

Related words

• produire
• production
• producteur
• productif
• Latin prōdūcō

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 q r 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 f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 424b
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert