questionnaire

Forms

questionnaire m (plural questionnaires)^[1]

Etymology

The TLFi and Rey take it as borrowed from Late Latin quaestiōnārius, used in the same sense,^[2][3][4] from quaestiō (“inquiry, investigation”), the source of question.^[2][1] Bloch–Wartburg, the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Littré derive it from French within French from question.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin noun is from quaerō (“to seek”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1533 in the title Questionnaire des cirurgiens et barbiers “questionnaire of surgeons and barbers”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

After another record in 1555, in Barthélemy Aneau's Tresor de Evonine Philatre, the word seems to disappear until the 19th century.^[2][3][9] It was taken up again in 1845 (Bloch–Wartburg and Rey) or 1846 (Bescherelle, in the TLFi).^[5][3][2]

Littré gives two senses: a book or part of a book setting out the questions that can be put to pupils on their subjects, and a series of questions used as a guide for an inquiry.^[8] Today it is a list of questions to be answered, or the printed form that carries them; the questionnaire à choix multiple (QCM) offers a set of answers to choose from.^[7][10][11]

Timeline

• 1533 – Questionnaire des cirurgiens et barbiers is printed.^[2][7]
• 1555 – Barthélemy Aneau uses it again.^[2][3]
• 1616 – D'Aubigné uses the homonym questionnaire “torturer”.^[2]
• 1845 – The word is taken up again.^[5][3]
• 1846 – Bescherelle records it.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A series of questions put methodically for an inquiry or a survey, or the printed form on which they are written: remplir un questionnaire.^[7][11][10]
2. Questionnaire à choix multiple (QCM): a multiple-choice questionnaire.^[7][10]
3. (dated) A book or section of a book setting out questions for pupils on their studies.^[8]

Related words

• question
• questionner
• questionneur
• Latin quaestiō

Usage notes

A separate word questionnaire, the torturer who applied the judicial question, is recorded at the end of the 16th century in D'Aubigné's Histoire universelle (1616 in the TLFi); it comes from Late Latin quaestiōnārius in the sense of torture, from quaestiō “torture”.^[2][3][6][8] It is now used only as a historical term;^[3][2] Balzac used it in César Birotteau (1837).^[3][2]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1411b
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)