tentative

Forms

tentative f (plural tentatives)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin tentātīva (“university test”), a word of scholastic Latin.^[2][3][4][1] The related Latin adjective tentātīvus had been formed by Thomas Aquinas;^[2] Rey and the GLLF derive the noun from tentātum, the supine of tentō (“to try, test”).^[5][4] The modern sense of an attempt did not come from the Latin word but grew up under the influence of the verb tenter.^[2][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais first used it for a test taken by candidates for the bachelor's degree in theology: the TLFi dates this to the Tiers Livre (1552), while Rey, the Grand Robert and the GLLF give 1546.^[2][5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

After naming the theology examination, the word came to mean an effort to bring about some result, an attempt, which Monet records in 1636; here it was read as the noun of tenter in its sense “to try”.^[2][5][4] Littré still gives the old school sense, a public act by which a candidate for the theology bachelor's degree proved his ability.^[6]

In law it has meant from 1810 an attempted offence, the effort made towards committing a crime, hence phrases such as tentative de vol and tentative de meurtre.^[2][5][4]

Timeline

• 1546 – Rabelais uses it of a theology examination (the TLFi dates the passage to 1552).^[5][3][2]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “attempt, effort”.^[2][4]
• 1810 – A speech in the legislative assembly uses it in the legal sense of an attempted offence.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An attempt, an effort to make something difficult succeed: une troisième tentative, une tentative de fuite.^[7][8][2]
2. (law) An attempted offence: the start of carrying out an offence that failed only through circumstances outside the offender's will.^[8][7][2]
3. (historical) A public test taken by a candidate for the bachelor's degree in theology.^[6][2]

Related words

• tenter
• tentation
• Latin tentō

Usage notes

In law the attempt, where the law provides for it, is treated as the completed offence and carries the same penalties.^[8]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)