progrès

Forms

progrès m (invariable)^[1] Middle French progrez, in Montaigne and Paré.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōgressus (“a going forward, development, increase”).^[3][4][1][5] The TLFi and Rey date the borrowing to 1546, in Rabelais's Tiers Livre;^{[3][4][6][7][8]} Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF give 1532, also in Rabelais.^{[3][4][6][7][8]} The Latin noun is derived from prōgredior (“to go forward, advance”), from prō- (“forward”) and gradior (“to step, walk”).^[4][3][2][8] progression (14th century) is borrowed from the related prōgressiō.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1546 Rabelais uses progrès for the development or advance of an action, the figurative sense of the Latin word.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first kept the neutral Latin sense of development, without any idea of improvement, and in the plural it named a series of military successes (1616); this neutral use declined in the 17th and 18th centuries and gave way about 1840 to évolution.^[3][4] The spatial sense of forward movement (1611, Cotgrave) survived mainly in military use, and the classical language also had a gallant sense, an advance in someone's affections (1651, Corneille).^[3][4]

The commonest sense, gradual change for the better, dates from 1564, with faire de grands progrès;^[3][4] Montaigne applies it to studies in 1588, and Descartes uses progrès à l'infini in philosophy in 1644.^[3][4] The absolute use for the advance of humanity and civilization towards an ideal belongs to the Enlightenment, first in Mirabeau (1757); the idea became central in the 19th century, as in progrès social, and was judged more cautiously in the 20th.^[3][4] The derivatives progressiste (1830) and progresser (1833) appeared as the notion spread.^[4]

Timeline

• 1532 – Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date the word from Rabelais.^[6][7][8]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it for the advance of an action, in the Tiers Livre.^[3][4]
• 1564 – Thierry records faire de grands progretz, with the sense of improvement.^[3][4]
• 1588 – Montaigne writes of le progrez de ses estudes.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “forward movement in space”.^[3][4]
• 1616 – D'Aubigné uses the plural for a run of military successes.^[3][4]
• 1644 – Descartes uses progrès à l'infini.^[3][4]
• 1651 – Corneille uses it for an advance in someone's affections.^[3][4]
• 1757 – Mirabeau uses it for the advance of civilization.^[3][4]
• 1830 – Progressiste appears.^[4]
• 1833 – The verb progresser appears.^[4]
• c. 1840 – The neutral sense gives way to évolution.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Forward movement; in modern use, the advance of troops.^[3][9]
2. The spreading of something, its gaining ground: les progrès du feu dans la forêt.^[3][9]
3. (literary) Development or progression in time.^[9][4]
4. Change for the better, improvement: faire des progrès, faire de grands progrès.^[4][3][1]
5. The advance of humanity and civilization towards a better state, often with a capital: le progrès social.^[4][3]
6. (philosophy) Progrès à l'infini: an endless series of causes with no first cause.^[2][3]

Word family

• progresser
• progressiste
• progressisme

Related words

• progression
• progressif
• grade
• degré
• Latin prōgressus

Usage notes

The saying on n'arrête pas le progrès “you can't stop progress” is a 20th-century phrase.^[8] Littré notes that the final s is sounded in liaison before a vowel.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 437a
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert