The TLFi and the GLLF distinguish two nouns traité: “treatise”, the Latin tractatus remade after traiter, and “treaty”, the past participle of traiter used as a noun.[1][2][3]
traité1 treatise
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- c. 1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (trahō)
Pronunciation
Forms
traité m (plural traités)[4] Old French traitié (about 1165), traicté (Oresme, 1370); traité in Pomey (1671).[1][2]
Etymology
“Treatise” is a Frenchified form of Latin tractātus (“handling; treatment of a subject”),[1][2][5][6] remade after traiter;[1][5] the Latin noun is formed on the supine of Latin tractō (“to handle, treat”), frequentative of Latin trahō (“to draw, drag”).[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) has traitié.[1]
Semantic evolution
Oresme's L'acteur commence cy son traicté (1370) shows the sense of a written work on a subject,[7][5] which has stayed constant: a didactic work setting out a subject systematically, as in Descartes's remark that he wrote Discours and not Traité de la Méthode, or Fénelon's Traité de l'éducation des filles.[5][8][1]
Timeline
- c. 1165 – Traitié in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[1]
- 1370 – Traicté in Oresme.[2]
- 1671 – The spelling traité.[1]
Meanings
Noun
traité2 treaty
Pronunciation
Forms
traité m (plural traités)[4] Traitiet (1300), traiteit (1320), traictié (1322), traittié (Froissart); traicté (1596).[1][5]
Etymology
“Treaty” is the past participle of traiter (“to negotiate”) used as a noun,[1][2][8][3][9] the verb being inherited from Latin tractō (“to handle, treat”).[2][7]
Cognate with Old Occitan tractat, Spanish tratado and Italian trattato.[7] The Anglo-Norman forms correspond to English treaty and English treatise.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
A Tournai register of 1300 has traitiet, a negotiated agreement.[1][2]
Semantic evolution
At the end of the 14th century Froissart uses it for an agreement between states (the besieged of Bergerac en traité with the constable);[1][7] traité de paix dates from 1636.[1] It also named any contract between private persons or with the administration, now dated except in traité de réassurance.[1][8][7] In modern usage it is chiefly the written international agreement (le traité de Versailles, 1919, le traité de Rome, 1957).[8][3]
Timeline
- 1300 – Traitiet “agreement”.[1]
- Late 14th century – A treaty between states, in Froissart.[1]
- 1636 – Traité de paix.[1]
- 1723 – A commercial contract, in Savary.[1]
Meanings
Noun
- A treaty (between states): traité de paix, traité d'alliance, signer un traité.[8][3]
- (law, dated) A contract, agreement between private parties or with an authority.[8][1]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 143b
- ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 141a
- ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Traité.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/trait%C3%A9. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
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