programme

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʁɔ.ɡʁam/^[1]

Forms

programme m (plural programmes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “public notice, order of the day”),^[2][3][4][5] from πρό (pró, “before”) and γράμμα (grámma, “what is written”), literally “what is written beforehand”.^[3] Latin had Late Latin programma in the same sense, from the Greek.^[2][6] Richelet (1680) spells it “programe” and notes that it comes from Greek.^[2]

English took the word as “program” and “programma” in the 17th century and as “programme” in the early 19th, probably under French influence;^[2] the radio and computing senses were in turn borrowed from English.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1677 in Duillier's French–Italian dictionary;^[2] Richelet (1680) defines it as a notice, posted or handed out, giving the subject of a college's public performance and the names of the performers.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “written announcement of a show” is in the Encyclopédie (1765),^[2][7] and in schools the word came to mean the subjects of a course or examination, a sense common from the 19th century.^[3][8] With the Revolution (Bailly, 1789) it took the political sense, a set of intended actions and measures;^[2][3] hence any planned sequence of actions, and de Gaulle's ironic vaste programme !.^[3]

In 1933 it was used of radio broadcasts, perhaps after English;^[2][3] in 1954 it named the instructions governing an electronic machine, and in 1959 a computer program, both senses from English.^[2][3] By analogy biologists speak of a programme génétique.^[3] The verb programmer dates from 1917.^[3]

Timeline

• 1677 – In Duillier's dictionary.^[2]
• 1680 – Programe in Richelet.^[2]
• 1765 – The programme of a show, in the Encyclopédie.^[2]
• 1789 – A political programme, in Bailly.^[2]
• 1917 – The verb programmer.^[3]
• 1933 – A radio programme.^[2]
• 1959 – A computer program.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A program or printed leaflet announcing a show, ceremony or concert; what is announced: changement de programme.^[7][9]
2. Radio or television programmes, the schedule of broadcasts.^[7][10]
3. The syllabus of a course or examination.^[9][3]
4. A set of planned actions; a political platform: programme électoral.^[2][3]
5. (computing) A computer program.^[1][2]
6. (biology) Programme génétique: the genetic program.^[3]

Word family

• programmer
• programmation
• programmatique

Related words

• Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma)
• English program
• English programme

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 r s 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 l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 436b
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)