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subjectivité

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Etymology and origin of the French word subjectivité

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1801 Ch. de Villers, Philosophie de Kant More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin subjectivus

Forms

subjectivité f (plural subjectivités)[1] Subjectiveté in Boiste (1803); subjectivité in Mozin (1812).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French subjectif + -ité, perhaps under the influence of German Subjektivität, from subjektiv.[5][2][1] The Grand Robert dates the German word to 1805, and Picoche takes the French word through it.[6][3][7] The adjective is a borrowing of the Latin subjectivus, formed on the past participle subjectus.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1801 in Ch. de Villers's Philosophie de Kant, as a philosophical term for the quality of what belongs to the thinking subject.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Rey notes that it came in with an account of Kant's philosophy.[3] It names the character of what belongs to the subject, and to the subject alone; in the 20th century it also came to mean the domain of subjective realities, a person's inner self and consciousness (Sartre, 1943), and the state of someone who sees things in a subjective way.[3][2][8] In linguistics it names the marks of the speaker in what he says (1972).[2][3]

The English word subjectivity (1803) belongs to the same Kantian vocabulary.[9]

Timeline

  • 1801 – Ch. de Villers uses it in his Philosophie de Kant.[5][8]
  • 1803 – Boiste records the spelling subjectiveté.[2][3]
  • 1812 – Mozin records subjectivité.[2][4]
  • 1943 – Sartre uses it for a person's inner life.[2]
  • 1972 – A dictionary of linguistics records the linguistic sense.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (philosophy) The character of what belongs to the subject, and especially to the subject alone, as opposed to objectivity.[8][5][10]
  2. The attitude of someone who judges things through his own feelings and states of mind: la subjectivité d’un critique.[8]
  3. The domain of subjective realities, the consciousness, the self.[8][2]
  4. (linguistics) The presence of the speaker in his own speech.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  5. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Subjectivité.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/subjectivit%C3%A9. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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