tactique

Forms

tactique f (plural tactiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τακτική (taktikḗ), with τέχνη (tékhnē, “art”) understood, “the art of drawing up and manoeuvring troops”.^[2][3][4] The Greek noun is the feminine of the adjective τακτικός (taktikós, “concerning arrangement”), from τάσσω (tássō, “to arrange, put in order”), Attic τάττω (táttō), a verb with no established etymology.^[2][3][5][1] The Grand Robert also names Latin tacticus.^[6]

The adjective (about 1850) is either the noun used as an adjective or a new borrowing of the Greek adjective.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg call it a later formation from the noun.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in 1310–1320 as a masculine noun in Jean de Vignay's translation of Vegetius, for a teacher of the art of war: mestres d'armes, que il apelerent tactiques (“masters of arms, whom they called tacticians”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The masculine “tactician, writer on tactics” was still used in 1688, but the feminine noun took over.^[7] It is first found in jest in Tallemant des Réaux (1657–1659), une tactique de plats “a plan for setting out dishes”, and Furetière records the military sense in 1690.^[7][4][3] Today it means the art of combining military means in a battle, as distinct from stratégie, the conduct of a whole war.^[2][8]

From 1788 it was used generally for the coordinated means employed to reach an end.^[7][2][3] The adjective, first military (“relating to combat”, then “usable in combat”, 1860), entered everyday use in the 20th century, and armes tactiques now means medium-range weapons.^[2]

Timeline

• 1310–1320 – Jean de Vignay uses tactiques for masters of the art of war.^[7]
• 1657–1659 – Tallemant des Réaux writes of une tactique de plats.^[7]
• 1690 – Furetière records the military sense.^[7][6][3]
• 1758 – Tacticien is formed from it.^[2]
• 1788 – First use for the means of reaching any end.^[7][3]
• 1791 – Tactique navale appears in a book title.^[7]
• c. 1850 – The adjective appears.^[2]
• 1903 – Foch uses tactiquement.^[7][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) Tactics, the art of combining troops and weapons in combat, carrying out locally the plans of strategy.^[8][7]
2. By analogy, the tactics of a sports team or player: la tactique d'une équipe de rugby.^[8]
3. (figurative) A tactic, the coordinated means used to reach a result: changer de tactique.^[8][7]

Adjective

1. Tactical, relating to tactics or to combat.^[2][7]
2. (military) Of weapons: medium-range, for use on the battlefield (armes tactiques).^[2]

Word family

• tacticien
• tactiquement

Related words

• Ancient Greek τακτικός (taktikós)

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert