Etymologically
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total

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tɔ.tal/[1]
  • IPA: /to.tal/[1]

Forms

total (feminine totale, masculine plural totaux, feminine plural totales)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin tōtālis, recorded from the 12th century in England, derived from Latin tōtus (“whole, entire”), the source of tout.[2][3][4][5] The adverb tōtāliter is attested as early as the 4th century, which led Littré to posit the Latin adjective.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oresme (1370) uses it for what is complete, lacking nothing: une injustice especial, qui est partie de tele injustice total.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1398 somme toutalle shows the sense “taking in all the parts”.[2] The noun named a whole made of several things (Amyot, 1559), a sense now lost, and, from 1723 (Savary) the sum obtained by adding numbers; in the 16th century totage was used instead.[2][3][6] Au total (1788) became figurative for “all things considered” (1805), and in very familiar use total alone at the head of a clause means “and the result is” (1832–36).[3][2]

Guerre totale appears in 1924.[2] In familiar 20th-century use la totale is a hysterectomy, and also “the works”.[3] Derivatives include totalement (1361), totalité (1375), totaliser (1829) and totalitaire.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1361 – Totalement in Oresme.[3]
  • 1370 – Total in Oresme.[2]
  • 1398 – Somme toutalle.[2]
  • 1559 – The noun, in Amyot.[2]
  • 1723 – Savary: the sum of an addition.[2]
  • 1788 – Au total.[2]
  • 1924 – Guerre totale.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Complete, absolute, with nothing lacking: une confiance totale, un silence total.[7][1]
  2. Affecting all the parts: destruction totale, éclipse totale, guerre totale.[7]
  3. Taken as a whole: la somme totale, la hauteur totale.[8][2]

Noun

  1. The total, the sum obtained by addition: faire le total.[7][1]
  2. Au total: all in all, on the whole.[7][3]
  3. (familiar) La totale: a hysterectomy; the works, everything.[3]

Adverb

  1. (familiar) As a result, in the end.[2][3]

Word family

  • totaliser
  • totalisateur
  • totalité
  • totalitaire

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 127b
  6. ^ a b c 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. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse