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provisionnel

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Etymology and origin of the French word provisionnel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1484–1485 Procès-verbaux of the regency council of Charles VIII More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origin
Latin prōvideō

Forms

provisionnel (feminine provisionnelle, masculine plural provisionnels, feminine plural provisionnelles)[1] First recorded as provisionnal (1484), refashioned as provisionnel by 1578.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French provision + -el, the first form, recorded in 1484, having the suffix -al.[4][1] The noun is a learned borrowing from Latin prōvīsiō (“foresight, preparation”), from prōvideō (“to provide”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as provisionnal in the minutes of the regency council of Charles VIII, in 1484–85, meaning “provisional”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century both forms were used for anything temporary: Castelnau wrote that an edict n'estoit que provisional, and d'Aubigné that certain rulings were que provisionnels.[6] In law it came to mean “done in advance, pending a judgment or a final settlement”, which the TLFi dates to 1565 and the Grand Robert and the DHLF to 1611.[4][3][2] The GLLF instead gives the legal sense from 1484 and the sense “provisional” from Cotgrave (1611).[5]

The general sense survived into the 18th century, as in Rousseau's gouvernement provisionnel, and is now obsolete.[3][2] The word lives on in taxation: acompte provisionnel (1950) and tiers provisionnel (1959) are the instalments of income tax paid in advance on the basis of the previous year's tax.[4][7]

Timeline

  • 1484–85 – Provisionnal appears in the minutes of Charles VIII's council.[4][5]
  • 1565 – First legal use, according to the TLFi.[4]
  • 1578 – The form provisionnel is recorded.[3][2]
  • c. 1580 – The adverb provisionnellement is recorded.[2]
  • 1694 – The Académie's first dictionary records the word.[4]
  • 1804 – The Civil Code uses partage provisionnel.[4]
  • 1950 – Julien Green writes acompte provisionnel.[4]
  • 1959 – Tiers provisionnel is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (law) Done or paid in advance, pending a judgment or a final settlement: partage provisionnel.[4][7][5]
  2. (taxation) Acompte provisionnel, tiers provisionnel: an instalment of tax paid in advance, calculated from the previous year's tax.[7][5][8]
  3. (obsolete) Provisional, temporary.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Provisionnel.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/provisionnel. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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