provenance

Forms

provenance f (plural provenances)^[1] Old Picard prouvenanche (1294).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French provenir + -ance, on the present participle provenant.^[5][2][3][6] It is first found in 1294 in the Picard form prouvenanche, and was formed again in modern French in 1801.^[2][3][4][7] The verb is from Latin prōveniō (“to come forth, arise”),^[8] from prō- (“forth”) and veniō (“to come”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Miracles de saint Éloi (1294) prouvenanche meant that from which a fact proceeds, its cause, according to the TLFi and the Petit Robert;^[5][3] the DHLF takes it as the place a thing comes from.^[4] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records provenance “origin” in 1335.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The modern word appears in Mercier's Néologie (1801), at first for what comes from something, its consequence,^[5][7] and as a commercial and administrative term, chiefly in the plural.^[8][4] Provenances were goods arriving from a foreign country (1823, Boiste; 1835, Académie),^[5][11][4] and in 1828 the word named the place of origin of a product.^[5][3]

Balzac used it in 1834 for the place where any thing comes from,^[7][4] and Bescherelle recorded the general sense “origin, source” in 1845.^[5][3][7] En provenance de, said of trains, planes and passengers, dates from 1906.^[4][3] English borrowed provenance in 1785.^[9]

Timeline

• 1294 – Prouvenanche appears in the Miracles de saint Éloi.^[5][2]
• 1335 – Anglo-Norman provenance “origin”.^[10]
• 1785 – English borrows the word as provenance.^[9]
• 1801 – Mercier's Néologie records provenance.^[5][8][7]
• 1823 – Boiste records it for goods from a foreign country.^[5][11]
• 1828 – Verger uses it for the place of origin of a product.^[5][3]
• 1834 – Balzac uses it for the place a thing comes from.^[7][4]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records the general sense “origin”.^[5][3]
• 1906 – First record of en provenance de.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The place a thing or, more rarely, a person comes from: la provenance d'un colis.^[3][5]
2. En provenance de: coming from (said of trains, planes, travellers), as opposed to à destination de.^[3]
3. Origin, source: des objets de toutes provenances.^[3][7][6]
4. (commerce, customs) Pays de provenance: the country from which goods were imported.^[3][5]
5. (plural, commerce) Goods coming from abroad, considered from the point of view of their origin.^[4][6]

Related words

• provenir
• provenant
• Latin provenio
• English provenance

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF