Etymologically
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région

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 15:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁe.ʒjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

région f (plural régions)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin regiō (“direction; boundary line; area, territory, country; district of a city”), derived from regō (“to direct, guide”), the source of régir.[2][3][4][5] Old French also had a popular form reiun (about 1119), reon, roion, which corresponds to Italian rione (“district of a city”) and was ousted by the learned word before the end of the 14th century.[2][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) it has the wide sense of the Latin, a country or land.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The broad sense “country” was still alive in the 16th century.[2] Gradually narrowed, it came to mean the area around a town or place (12th century), then (about 1380) a stretch of territory whose unity comes from its physical features or the common origin of its people;[2][3] régions naturelles is recorded in 1824.[2][3] From the 16th century (Amyot, 1559) it was also defined by economic or administrative criteria, and in France the région became an administrative unit grouping several departments.[2][3][1]

By analogy it named a part of the sky (late 14th century) and a layer of the atmosphere (1636), and figuratively a field of activity, as in Molière's les hautes régions de la philosophie (1672).[3] In medicine it names a part of the body (1478).[3]

Timeline

  • 1119 – “Country”, in Philippe de Thaon.[3]
  • c. 1380 – A territory with common features.[3][4]
  • 1478 – A part of the body.[3]
  • 1559 – Amyot: an artificially defined area.[3]
  • 1636 – A layer of the atmosphere.[3]
  • 1672 – Molière's hautes régions de la philosophie.[3]
  • 1848 – The adjective régional.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A region, a fairly large area with its own physical or human features: région polaire, région industrielle.[7][1]
  2. The area around a place.[3][7]
  3. (France) An administrative division grouping several departments.[1][7]
  4. A unit of military or other administration: région militaire.[7][8]
  5. (anatomy) A part of the body: la région lombaire.[3][9]
  6. (figurative) A domain, a sphere: les hautes régions de la pensée.[3]

Word family

  • régional

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 213b
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette