Etymologically
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terme

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tɛʁm/[1]

Forms

terme m (plural termes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French terme, inherited from Latin terminus (“boundary stone; limit, end”).[2][3][4][1][5] The Latin word was personified and deified as Terminus, the god who guarded boundaries, and also meant figuratively “limit, end”.[2][4] It is an Italic word, found in Oscan and Umbrian, and corresponds to Ancient Greek τέρμα (térma, “limit, end”).[2][6] In the 13th century a learned “termine” was made on the Latin, but it did not last.[6] terminus is a doublet.[1]

Rey treats the sense “word, expression” as a separate borrowing (about 1360) of Medieval Latin “terminus”, used by Thomas Aquinas for “dictio”, “locutio”, “that which delimits a meaning”.[2] Cognate with Romanian termen, Italian termine, Occitan terme, Catalan terme and Portuguese termo.[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) uses it for a date to come; in the Chanson de Roland it is a set term after which something must happen: vendrat li jurz, si passerat li termes “the day will come and the term will pass”.[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century it was a fixed limit, a due date, especially of payments (1283) and of rents (1421), and by metonymy the sum due on that date, the quarter's rent.[2][3] Phrases followed: à terme (13th century), à court terme (about 1220, in the sense of time; 1804 of duration), à long terme (1872), vente à terme on the stock exchange (1720) and mettre un terme à (1706 or later).[2][7][4] It was said of the end of a pregnancy (about 1145), whence accoucher avant terme (1465), and figuratively of death (late 13th century).[2]

In the plural termes meant one's state or footing with someone (1468), whence être en bons termes (1623).[2] The spatial sense of the Latin lasted less well: a boundary stone (about 1380), and, from the 16th century the statue of Terminus, a bust ending in a sheath, used as an ornament (1571), now historical.[2][4] The sense “word, expression” (about 1360) gave en d'autres termes and, in logic and mathematics, the terms of a proposition or an equation.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – “A date to come”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1080 – “A set term”, in the Chanson de Roland.[2][6]
  • c. 1145 – The term of a pregnancy.[2]
  • 1283 – A due date for payment.[3]
  • c. 1360 – “Word, expression”.[2]
  • 1421 – The rent due at a quarter day.[2]
  • 1623 – Être en bons termes.[2]
  • 1720 – Vente à terme.[2]
  • 1872 – À long terme.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An end, a limit in time: mettre un terme à, to put an end to, au terme de, at the end of.[7][1]
  2. A set date, due date, à terme, on credit, at a fixed date, à court, à long terme, in the short, long term.[7][2][1]
  3. The rent due at a set date; a quarter's rent.[1][2]
  4. The end of a pregnancy: accoucher avant terme.[2][1]
  5. A term, word, expression: terme technique, en d'autres termes, in other words.[1][2]
  6. (in the plural) Terms, conditions: aux termes du contrat; relations: être en bons termes.[1][8][2]
  7. (logic, mathematics) A term of a proposition, a fraction or an equation.[2][4]
  8. (antiquity) A boundary stone; a herm, a statue of the god Terminus.[8][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 t u v w x y z 27 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 239b
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b 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