Etymologically
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retraite

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.tʁɛt/[1]

Forms

retraite f (plural retraites)[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine past participle of the old verb retraire (“to withdraw”), used as a noun.[2][3][4][5] The verb continues Latin retrahō (“to draw back”), from re- (“back”) and trahō (“to draw”), the source of traire.[6][5] Compare the masculine retrait.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Moniage Guillaume (late 12th century) it means the act of drawing back, a dodge.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In military use sonner la retraite, to sound the signal to leave the battlefield, is in the Faits des Romains (1213), and battre en retraite in Pomey (1671); the evening signal for troops to return to quarters gave the retraite aux flambeaux, a torchlight tattoo (1875).[2][8] Gaston Phébus (1387–89) uses corner retraite in hunting.[2]

About 1470 it named a place where one withdraws or takes refuge, and, from Montaigne (1580) withdrawal from active or worldly life.[2][8] The Cardinal de Retz (about 1673) uses it for a period of religious seclusion.[8] From that came, for officers (1752) and civil servants (1768), the leaving of active service, and the pension paid for it;[4][8] retraité dates from 1823 and caisse de retraite from 1845.[4][8]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – “Act of drawing back”, in the Moniage Guillaume.[2]
  • 1213 – Sonner la retraite.[2]
  • c. 1470 – A place of refuge, in Chastellain.[2]
  • 1580 – Montaigne: withdrawal from active life.[2]
  • 1671 – Battre en retraite.[2]
  • c. 1673 – Retz: a religious retreat.[8]
  • 1752 – Retirement of officers.[4][8]
  • 1823 – Retraité.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A retreat, the withdrawal of an army: battre en retraite.[5][1]
  2. A signal for troops to return to quarters, retraite aux flambeaux, a torchlight procession.[5][2]
  3. Retirement from work: prendre sa retraite, être à la retraite.[1][8]
  4. A retirement pension: toucher sa retraite, caisse de retraite.[1][8]
  5. A period of withdrawal for prayer and meditation: faire une retraite.[8][5]
  6. (literary) A place where one withdraws, a refuge.[2][5]

Word family

  • retraiter

Usage notes

A second retraite (1723), formed from re- and traite, is a commercial term for a redraft, a new bill of exchange drawn by an unpaid holder; the Grand Robert and the TLFi give it a numbered entry of its own.[3][2][7]

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 l m 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse