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rudiment

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Etymology and origin of the French word rudiment

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1495 Jean de Vignay, Miroir historial More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Latin rudimentum
Ultimate origin
Latin rudis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin rudis
English rude
Latin rudīmentum
English rudiment
French rudiment
Spanish rudimento
From the same root
Latin ērudiō ← rudis
English rudimentary ← rudiment

Pronunciation

  • /ʁy.di.mɑ̃/[1]

Forms

rudiment m (plural rudiments)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rudīmentum (“apprenticeship, first attempt, first elements”),[2][3][4] from rudis (“unworked, rough; untaught”),[3][5][4] the source of rude.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the phrase rudimens de continence in Jean de Vignay's Miroir historial (printed 1495), where it means “first exercises, first attempts”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1545 the plural named the first elements of a science or an art, which is still the main sense.[2][3] The singular came to name, by metonymy, a little book of the first elements of Latin grammar (Molière, 1666), and the elementary part of any grammar (1690);[2][3] the Académie recorded en être encore au rudiment “to be still at one's first lessons” and renvoyer quelqu'un au rudiment in 1740, phrases now gone out of use.[2][3]

In natural history the plural meant the first elements of animal and plant tissues (Belon, 1553), and Buffon (1782) used it of an organ that stays very little developed.[2][3] The DHLF considers these uses archaic, while the derivative rudimentaire lives on.[3]

Timeline

  • 1495 – Rudimens de continence “first attempts” in the Miroir historial.[2][4]
  • 1545 – The plural is used of the first elements of a science or art.[2][3]
  • 1553 – Belon uses it for the first elements of living tissues.[2]
  • 1666 – Molière uses it for a Latin grammar primer.[2][6]
  • 1740 – The Académie records en être encore au rudiment.[2]
  • 1782 – Buffon uses it of an undeveloped organ.[2][7]
  • 1789 – The derivative rudimentaire is first recorded, as a noun.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (usually plural) The first elements or basic notions of a subject: les rudiments de la chimie.[7][2]
  2. (biology) A vestigial or barely developed organ: un rudiment de nageoire.[7][2]
  3. (plural, literary) The first beginnings of an organisation, a system or a theory.[7]
  4. (dated) A primer of Latin grammar; the elementary part of a grammar.[2][5]

Word family

  • rudimentaire

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Rudiment.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/rudiment. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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