professionnel

Forms

professionnel (feminine professionnelle, masculine plural professionnels, feminine plural professionnelles)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French profession + -el,^[2][3][4][5] probably after the English adjective professional, “relating to a profession” (mid-18th century) and “by profession” (1798), used in sport from 1838.^[2][3] profession itself is a borrowing from Latin professiō (“declared occupation”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1842, in Louis Reybaud's Jérôme Paturot, meaning “relating to a trade or profession, done according to its rules”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In sport the noun, for a paid player as opposed to an amateur, appears in 1872 with reference to England; in 1876 La Revue des Sports still writes les professionals of the English, then les professionnels of France.^[2][3] Beautés professionnelles (1885) is a calque of English professional beauty, and in the early 20th century une professionnelle became a familiar word for a prostitute.^[2][3] The adjective is also used of the qualities of someone who has mastered their trade.^[3][6]

It was shortened familiarly to pro in 1881, first in sport and the theatre, and more widely from 1912.^[3] Its derivatives include professionnellement (1845), professionnalisme (1893) and professionnalisation (1946).^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1842 – First recorded, in Reybaud.^[2][4]
• 1845 – École professionnelle.^[7]
• 1872 – Noun in sport, of English players.^[2][3]
• 1876 – Les professionnels of French sport.^[2]
• 1881 – Clipped to pro.^[3]
• 1885 – Beautés professionnelles, after English professional beauty.^[2]
• 1910 – Péguy uses it in the sense “who is such by profession”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to a profession or trade and its practice: la vie professionnelle, la formation professionnelle, une faute professionnelle, le secret professionnel.^[6][2]
2. (education, France) Of the secondary teaching that prepares for working life: un lycée professionnel.^[6]
3. Who is such by profession, as opposed to an amateur: un pianiste professionnel, un cycliste professionnel.^[6][7]
4. Showing the skill and conscientiousness of a good professional: son travail est très professionnel.^[6][7]

Noun

1. A professional, a person who practises a trade or a sport as a paid occupation; a specialist: les professionnels du bâtiment.^[6][2]
2. (familiar, feminine) Une professionnelle: a prostitute.^[6][3]

Word family

• professionnellement
• professionnalisme
• professionnalisation
• pro

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 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 j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse