Etymologically
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recrue

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.kʁy/[1]

Forms

recrue f (plural recrues)[1] Recreue (1501–16th century; d'Aubigné); recrue from the 17th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is the feminine past participle of recroître (“to grow again”) used as a noun,[2][5][4][6] literally “what has grown again, what is added to an army”;[5] the verb is from Latin recrēscō (“to grow again, increase”) (see croître).[7][1] Littré calls it the feminine of “recrû”.[4]

Spanish recluta, Portuguese recluta and Italian recluta come from French “recruter”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Livre de conduite of the Mystère de la Passion (1501) has recreue in the sense “supplement”.[2][8][5]

Semantic evolution

In 1550 a recreue was the body of soldiers sent to complete a unit, a sense still current in the classical period (faire sa recrue, Furetière, 1690; d'Aubigné's nouvelles recreues).[2][3][4] Bossuet used it figuratively for an increase (cette recrue continuelle du genre humain, je veux dire les enfants qui naissent).[5][3]

About 1720 it came to mean a new person joining a group, and in 1800–1808 a newly enlisted soldier.[8][2] From it came recruter (1691), criticised by Racine, recruteur (1771) and recrutement (1790).[8] In Switzerland the école de recrues is the first part of military service.[9]

Timeline

  • 1501 – Recreue “supplement”.[2]
  • 1550 – Reinforcements for a unit.[2]
  • 1691 – Recruter.[8]
  • c. 1720 – A new member of a group.[8]
  • 1771 – Recruteur.[8]
  • 1790 – Recrutement.[8]
  • 1800 – A newly enlisted soldier.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A recruit (soldier): les jeunes recrues.[10][1]
  2. A new member, recruit: une nouvelle recrue du parti.[10][9]
  3. (sport) A rookie.[1]
  4. (history) A levy of soldiers to complete a unit.[2][3]

Word family

  • recruter
  • recruter
  • recrutement
  • recruteur
  • recroître
  • croître
  • recru

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1304b
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert