Etymologically
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règle

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁɛɡl/[1]

Forms

règle f (plural règles)[1] Old French reugle (12th century), regle (about 1265), often rigle in the 14th century.[2][3] The spelling règle replaced regle in the Académie's dictionary of 1740.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rēgula (“straightedge, ruler; standard, rule; rod, bar”),[4][2][5][3][6] from regō (“to guide, direct”) (see régir).[2][7] This learned form drove out the older ones handed down from the same Latin word:[4][2] riule (1119, “moral precept”; about 1170, “straightedge”), which did not survive the Middle Ages but gave English rule,[4][5][1] and the popular reille (“lath, board; door bar”), source of English rail.[4][1] Another old outcome, rille “strip of bacon”, lives on in rillettes and rillons.[8][4]

Compare Italian regola, Occitan regla, Catalan regla, Spanish regla, Portuguese regra and German Regel.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1200 the Moralités sur Job use it for a principle or maxim that guides conduct, and the Dialogue Grégoire speaks of la riugle des moines, the rule of a religious order.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word took the narrower sense of a prescription grounded in custom (Pascal, before 1662), whence dans les règles (1688, Racine), en règle (1740) and de règle (about 1780).[2][4] From 1538 it is used of the precepts of a science or craft, then of the arts (règles classiques, 1660) and grammar (1690), and in the plural of the rules of a game (1538, la règle du jeu, 1921).[2] In mathematics it names the règle de trois (1520) and les quatre règles (1690).[2][4] C'est une rigle generalle (1458) shows the sense “what usually happens”, l'exception confirme la règle is recorded in 1870.[4][2]

The instrument for ruling lines is règle again from 1317, after the older riule; the slide rule, règle à calcul, appears in 1845.[4] Furetière (1690) records règles “menstrual periods”.[4]

Timeline

  • 1119 – The older form riule, Philippe de Thaon.[4]
  • c. 1200 – Regle for a guiding principle and a monastic rule.[4]
  • 1317 – The ruler for drawing lines.[4]
  • 1520 – La regle de trois.[4]
  • 1538 – Rules of a science or craft; rules of a game.[2]
  • 1688 – Dans les règles, Racine.[4]
  • 1690 – Règles “menstrual periods”, Furetière.[4]
  • 1740 – Se mettre en règle, Académie; the spelling règle.[4]
  • 1845 – Règle à calcul.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ruler, straightedge: tracer un trait à la règle, règle à calcul, a slide rule.[8][1]
  2. A rule, principle or precept that governs conduct, thought or a practice: les règles de la grammaire, les règles du jeu.[8][1]
  3. The rule of a religious order: la règle de saint Benoît.[4][8]
  4. What normally happens: en règle générale, l'exception confirme la règle.[4][2]
  5. En règle: in order, as required, être en règle, to have one's papers in order, dans les règles, properly.[8][4]
  6. (mathematics) An arithmetic operation: règle de trois.[4]
  7. Règles (plural): menstrual period, menses.[1][4]

Word family

  • régler
  • réglette
  • dérégler
  • règlement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b 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 q r s t u v w x y 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 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. 10, 219a
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette