tiers

Forms

tiers (feminine tierce, masculine plural tiers, feminine plural tierces)^[1] Old French feminine terce (about 980), masculine terz (late 11th century), tierz (about 1160), then tiers (13th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French tiers, inherited from Latin tertius (“third”), from ter (“three times”), itself from trēs (“three”).^{[5][2][4][1][6]}

Cognate with Italian terzo, Old Occitan tertz, Catalan ters and Spanish tercio.^[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 10th century in the Passion, in the forms terz and terce, meaning “third”: al terz di “on the third day”.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective tiers meant “third” until the early 17th century, when troisième replaced it; it survives in fixed phrases such as tierce personne (1585), tiers ordre (tierce ordene, 1326) and tiers état (1376, again from 1576), shortened to le Tiers in 1675.^[9][2][5] Fièvre tierce (1342) was used until the 19th century.^[2] Law added tiers opposant (1585), tiers arbitre (1694) and tierce opposition (1762).^[5]

As a noun, le tiers is the third part of a whole (1172–1174), and in law a third person besides the two parties (early 12th century), hence any outsider (1246) and être en tiers (1676).^[2] Le tiers et le quart “anybody at all” dates from 1399, and gave se moquer du tiers comme du quart.^[2][5] In the 20th century, when the word seemed to have lost its vitality, tiers monde was coined after tiers état.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Terz and terce appear in the Passion.^[5][4]
• c. 1160 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure has the masculine tierz.^[4]
• 1172–1174 – Le tiers is used for a third part.^[2]
• 1326 – Tierce ordene “third order” of Saint Francis.^[5]
• 1342 – Fièvre tierce is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1376 – Tiers estat appears in the Modus et Ratio; it is found again from 1576.^[5]
• 1399 – Le tiers et le quart “anybody” is recorded.^[2]
• 1585 – Tierce personne and tiers opposant appear in Noël du Fail.^[5]
• Early 17th century – The adjective gives way to troisième outside fixed phrases.^[9]
• 1675 – Madame de Sévigné writes le Tiers for the third estate.^[5]
• 1959 – Tiers provisionnel appears in tax language.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (archaic) third.^[10][1]
2. Tierce personne: a third person, and so an outsider to a group or a matter.^[10][5]
3. Le tiers état: the third estate, the commons of the Ancien Régime.^[2][8]
4. Le tiers monde: the Third World.^[2]

Noun

1. A third, one of three equal parts.^[1][2]
2. A third party; any outsider, a person not involved.^[5][1]
3. En tiers: as a third person beside two others.^[5][2]
4. Le tiers et le quart: anybody, everybody.^[5]

Word family

• tiers-point

Related words

• tierce
• trois
• troisième
• Latin tertius

Usage notes

The feminine tierce, used as a noun since 1119, has its own senses in liturgy (the third canonical hour), music, fencing and card games.^[2][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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 g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 266b
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert