proposition

Forms

proposition f (plural propositions)^[1] Old French propositiun; the spelling proposition is found from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōpositiō (“a setting forth, statement”), a noun of action from prōpōnō (“to put forward, propose”), itself from pōnō (“to place”).^[4][5][1][6] Littré analyses the Latin word as prō (“forward”) and positiō (“position”).^[7] In Latin it already meant a presentation to the eyes, a theme or statement in logic and grammar, and in Late Latin an intention or a suggestion.^[4][2] The logical sense of the 13th century and the theological sense of the 16th were taken from Latin again.^[4][8]

Cognate with Old Occitan propozicio, Spanish proposición and Italian proposizione.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as propositiun in the Psautier d'Oxford (first half of the 12th century), meaning “resolution, intention”, the sense of making one's purposes known.^[8][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From Christian Latin, Old French took the biblical phrase pains de proposition (about 1170) for the twelve loaves set before the tabernacle, the only survival of the original sense “a setting before the eyes”.^[4][8] About 1265 Brunetto Latini uses the word both for something put forward for consent, such as a text laid before a deliberating assembly, and in logic for a statement of a judgment.^[8][4] By the turn of the 14th century it also named the premise of a syllogism.^[8]

In 1560 it was applied in theology to a thesis summing up a doctrine, first of the fourteen propositions of the theologian Baius condemned by the Sorbonne, and Pascal wrote of the five propositions of Jansenius in 1657.^[4][8] Mathematics used it for a truth to be proved (1658), rhetoric for the part of a speech where the subject is set out (1660), and grammar for a clause, a syntactic unit forming a simple sentence or part of a complex one (1677).^[4][2] From 1747, after proposer “to offer”, it took a sexual sense, chiefly in the plural, as in faire des propositions à une femme.^[4][8]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Propositiun “resolution, intention” appears in the Psautier d'Oxford.^[2][3]
• c. 1170 – Pains de propositiun is used in the Livre des Rois.^[4][7]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a proposal and for a logical statement.^[8]
• 1370–1372 – Oresme writes ceste proposicion est vraye.^[8][7]
• 1560 – It is used of a condemned theological thesis.^[4][8]
• 1658 – First used in mathematics.^[4]
• 1677 – Miège records the grammatical sense “clause”.^[2][4]
• 1747 – Crébillon uses faire quelque proposition of an improper advance.^[8]
• 1771 – Contre-proposition is recorded.^[4]
• 1928 – The derivative propositionnel appears.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of proposing something to someone, and the thing proposed: an offer or suggestion.^[9][8]
2. Faire des propositions (to a woman): to make sexual advances.^[9][4]
3. A motion voted at a meeting, and in law proposition de loi, a bill put forward by members of parliament.^[9]
4. Sur (la) proposition de: on the recommendation or initiative of someone.^[9]
5. (logic) A judgment of fact or value expressed by a sentence, a statement that can be true or false.^[9][8]
6. (grammar) A clause: proposition principale, subordonnée, indépendante.^[9][1]
7. Pains de proposition: in the Bible, the loaves placed in the sanctuary, the showbread.^[8][7]

Word family

• contre-proposition
• propositionnel

Related words

• proposer
• Latin prōpositiō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 457a
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert