regrettable

Forms

regrettable (plural regrettables)^[1] Middle French regretable, with one ⟨t⟩.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French regretter + -able.^[5][1][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found as regretable before 1472, in Leseur, in an active sense, “expressing regret”, which has not survived.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

From 1515 it described a person, and later (1694) a thing, that deserves to be missed or regretted.^[2][5][8] The modern sense, “to be regretted, unfortunate”, appears in 1833, and the impersonal construction il est regrettable que “it is a pity that” at the end of the 19th century.^[2][5] The Petit Robert notes that the word is often a euphemism for displeasure.^[4] Said of a person, the older sense has become rare.^[2][4]

The adverb regrettablement (1834) is rarely used.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1472 – Regretable is used by Leseur in the sense “expressing regret”.^[2][8]
• 1478 – The Robert dictionaries date the form regretable to this year.^[3][4]
• 1515 – It is first applied to a person who deserves to be missed.^[5][2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records regrettable.^[7]
• 1694 – The Académie records it of a thing that one regrets.^[2][8]
• 1833 – Pétrus Borel uses it in the modern sense “to be regretted”.^[5][2]
• 1834 – The adverb regrettablement is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Regrettable, unfortunate: that one must regret or deplore, as in Une erreur regrettable a retardé le train.^[4][9][1]
2. (dated) Deserving to be missed or mourned, of a person or thing.^[4][5][7]

Related words

• regret
• regretter

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 j k 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)