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rapport

Etymology and origin of the French word rapport

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1214, Collection de Lorraine
Ultimate origin
Latin (apportō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French rapport
English rapport

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁa.pɔʁ/[1]

Forms

rapport m (plural rapports)[1] Earlier raiport (1214), raport (about 1275), rappors (1276).[2][3]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from rapporter,[2][3][1] itself from French re- + apporter, from Latin apportō (“to bring”).[4][5][6] Rapporter is recorded from 1180 and rapport from the early 13th century.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, raiport in a document of Lorraine of 1214, means the act of telling someone what one has seen, read or heard: an account, a testimony.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In law it was used from about 1283, in Beaumanoir, for the return of what an heir has received in advance to the estate before it is divided.[2][8] At the end of the 14th century Eustache Deschamps uses it both for malicious tales and for the yield of the land, the sense behind maison de rapport and en plein rapport.[2][7] The military sense of a daily report of a unit's activities is recorded in 1793.[2]

The abstract senses grew from the 16th century: “agreement, conformity” (1538), the link the mind makes between things compared (late 16th century, d'Aubigné, with avoir rapport à in 1678), and in mathematics the ratio of two quantities (1690).[2] Par rapport à “compared with; with regard to” dates from 1677.[2] From the late 18th century it was used of relations between people, mettre en rapport (1790), and in Balzac (1833) the plural rapports means sexual relations.[2][9]

English took rapport in the 1660s for a relation or connection; the sense of harmonious accord is from the 19th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1214 – Raiport “account, testimony” appears in Lorraine.[2]
  • c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it for the return of property to an estate.[2]
  • late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it for malicious tales and for the yield of land.[2]
  • 1538 – Robert Estienne records the sense “agreement, conformity”.[2]
  • 1677 – Par rapport à appears in Bossuet.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the mathematical sense “ratio”.[2]
  • 1793 – The military daily report is recorded.[2]
  • 1833 – Balzac uses rapports for sexual relations.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An account of what one has seen or heard;[10] (chiefly plural) a piece of gossip or a denunciation.[10][11]
  2. A report, a more or less official account: rapport de police, rédiger un rapport.[10][12]
  3. Yield, income from a property: immeuble de rapport.[10][12]
  4. (law) The return of a gift or advance to an estate before it is shared out among the heirs.[11][12]
  5. A link or relation between things: je ne vois pas le rapport.[11][12]
  6. (mathematics) A ratio.[1][2]
  7. (chiefly plural) Relations between people or groups: de bons rapports avec ses collègues.[12]
  8. Sexual intercourse: un rapport sexuel.[12][1]
  9. Par rapport à: compared with; with regard to.[2][1]

Word family

  • rapportage
  • rapporteur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Rapport.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/rapport. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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