Etymologically
Log in

régime

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

French has two nouns régime: “regime, system; diet”, from Latin regimen, and “bunch (of bananas)”, an Antillean word probably from Spanish racimo.[1][2][3]

régime1 regime

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁe.ʒim/[4]

Forms

régime m (plural régimes)[4] Regimen (about 1265), regime (about 1350); régime in the Académie from 1740.[2][5]

Etymology

“Regime” is borrowed from Latin regimen (“direction, government”),[2][5][6][7] from Latin regō (“to direct, rule”) (see régir).[2][5] The earlier popular form “roiame” (late 12th century, “regisme” “kingdom”, 1190), crossed with “royal”, became royaume.[5][1]

English regime (1792) is from French.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

La Règle du Temple (about 1265) has regimen for the act of governing.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

As the action noun of régir, it meant governing and, figuratively, moral direction (Retz, 1654), a sense lost in the 18th century.[5][1] From 1408–1409 it named the rules governing an institution, later régime dotal (1812), régime fiscal, régime pénitentiaire.[2][5] In 1789 ancien régime named the absolute monarchy just overthrown, and the word soon meant any form of government (Mirabeau).[2][5]

In medicine it was a treatment (Henri de Mondeville, 1314), then a way of life for health (late 14th century, régime de vivre, 1559), whence the modern sense “diet”.[2][5] The grammarians used it from 1680 for the word governed by a verb (cas régime).[2][5] In the 19th century it took technical senses: the flow of a fluid (1828) or a river (1870), the speed of an engine (1900, à plein régime).[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1265 – Regimen “government”.[2]
  • 1314 – A medical treatment.[2]
  • 1409 – The rules of an institution.[2]
  • 1680 – A grammatical term, in Richelet.[2]
  • 1789 – Ancien régime.[2]
  • 1792 – English regime.[8]
  • 1828 – The flow of a fluid.[2]
  • 1900 – The speed of an engine.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A regime, system of government: régime parlementaire, l'Ancien Régime.[3][4]
  2. A system of rules: régime fiscal, régime matrimonial.[3][9]
  3. A diet: être au régime, régime sans sel.[4][3]
  4. (technical) Rate, speed: régime d'un moteur, à plein régime: flat out; the régime of a river.[4][2]
  5. (grammar) An object: cas régime.[4][5]

régime2 bunch

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁe.ʒim/[4]

Forms

régime m (plural régimes)[4]

Etymology

“Bunch” is a word of the Antilles, probably borrowed from Spanish racimo (“bunch (of grapes)”), reshaped after “régime” “regime”;[2][6][1][10] Spanish “racimo” meant a bunch of dates from 1495.[2] It goes back to Latin racēmus (“bunch of grapes”) (see raisin).[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Father Bouton's account of the French settlement of Martinique (1640) has regime de bananes.[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The word named the large cluster of fruit of the banana and palm trees (régime de dattes), and by analogy other bunches of fruit tied together.[2][3] In botany it is also the inflorescence from which the fruit develops.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 1495 – Spanish racimo “bunch of dates”.[2]
  • 1640 – Regime de bananes in Martinique.[2]
  • 1835 – In the Académie.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bunch, cluster (of bananas, dates): un régime de bananes.[3][10]
  2. (botany) The inflorescence of the banana or palm tree.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ 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 z 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 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 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 208b
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse