sport

Forms

sport m (plural sports)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English sport,^[2][3][4][5] which in English is a shortening of Middle English disport (“pastime, amusement”),^[2][3][6] itself from Old French desport, a variant of deport (“pleasure, amusement”),^[2][3][4][6] the noun from the verb desporter, deporter (“to amuse oneself”) (modern déporter).^[2][4][3] The verb is formed from des- (“away”) and porter (“to carry”), from Latin portō (“to carry”), “carrying the mind away” from serious matters.^[6] The Old French noun is recorded from about 1130, in the Roman d'Eneas.^[7]

In English, the word is found from the 15th century for an amusement or pastime, from 1523 for an outdoor pastime involving exercise, and, from 1594 in the plural for athletic contests held as a public show.^[2][3][6] The French word was at first also pronounced with a final /t/.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the plural in 1828, in the Journal des haras, which notes that the word sports has no equivalent in French (“dont l'équivalent n'existe pas dans notre langue”).^[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first the French notion of sport was mostly that of the turf, with the idea of betting: the word spread above all after the paper Le Sport (1853), founded by Eugène Chapus and devoted to horse racing.^[3][5] The singular named one of these activities in 1839.^[2] It then came to mean any physical activity practised as a game or contest, with training and rules, and with an adjective a particular kind, as sports nautiques (1866) and sports d'hiver (1891); it was also used of hunting and fishing (1874).^[3] From the 1860s, and above all after 1890, it covered the organized competitions that spread from England to the continent.^[3]

Figurative uses kept the English sense of “game, amusement”: donner du sport “to be difficult” (1863), c'est du sport “it is a tough job” and il va y avoir du sport “there is going to be a fight” (1905).^[2][3] As an invariable adjective it described clothes for walking or the country (1886) and, by a new borrowing from English, meant “fair, loyal” (1904), a value that has aged.^[2][3] The adjective sportif dates from 1862.^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – Old French deport “amusement” appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[7]
• 15th century – English sport is recorded for an amusement.^[2][3]
• 1828 – Sports appears in the Journal des haras.^[2][4]
• 1839 – The singular names a particular sport.^[2]
• 1853 – Eugène Chapus founds the paper Le Sport.^[3][5]
• 1862 – The adjective sportif is formed.^[4][3]
• 1866 – Sports nautiques is recorded.^[3][7]
• 1886 – Used as an adjective for clothes.^[2][3]
• 1891 – Sports d'hiver appears.^[3]
• 1904 – The adjective takes the sense “fair, loyal”.^[2][3]
• 1905 – Il va y avoir du sport is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Physical activity practised as a game or competition, with training and rules: Mon frère fait du sport tous les matins.^[9][2]
2. A particular kind of such activity: sports d'équipe, sports d'hiver.^[3][7]
3. (familiar) C'est du sport: it is a hard task, and il va y avoir du sport: there is going to be trouble.^[3][2]
4. Pour le sport: for its own sake, with no personal gain.^[3]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Suited to sport; casual, of clothes.^[2][3]
2. (dated) Fair, showing fair play.^[3][2]

Word family

• sportif

Related words

• déporter
• English sport
• English disport

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert