traitement

Forms

traitement m (plural traitements)^[1] Middle French traictement and trectement.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from French traiter + -ment.^[2][3][4][1] The verb is from Latin tractō (“to pull, handle, deal with”), from trahō (“to pull, draw”).^[4]

Littré compares Old Occitan tractament and Italian trattamento.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1255 it meant a negotiation or agreement: Jehan, maires, et sire Flourens, eskevins, seront a ce traitement (“John, mayor, and Sir Florent, aldermen, will be at this negotiation”).^[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “negotiation, deliberation”, used until the 15th century, later passed to tractation, and the resulting agreement to traité².^[6][4] The Anglo-Norman word likewise meant a discussion, a negotiation or a treaty.^[7]

Following the senses of the verb, the noun came to mean the way of treating someone (about 1510), in classical French also a woman's way of receiving a declaration of love (1666) and the honours due to a person's rank (before 1679); it stays common in mauvais traitements (1690).^[6][2][8] By metonymy it has meant a civil servant's salary since 1533.^[2][6][4] It was used for feeding and caring for someone (1536), then in medicine (1636), in technology for working a substance (1765) and, since about 1960, in traitement de l'information “data processing”.^[2][6] It has also meant the treatment of a subject since 1538.^[6]

Timeline

• 1255 – First record, in the sense “negotiation”.^[2][4]
• c. 1510 – Trectement means the way of treating someone.^[2][6]
• 1533 – Traictement means a salary.^[2]
• 1536 – Used for feeding and caring for someone.^[2]
• 1636 – Monet records the medical sense.^[2]
• 1690 – Mauvais traitements is recorded.^[6][8]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie uses it for the processing of a substance.^[2]
• c. 1960 – Traitement de l'information appears.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The way of behaving towards someone, treatment: un traitement de faveur;^[9][10][1] mauvais traitements, physical abuse.^[9][10][1]
2. Medical treatment, the means used to cure a patient or a disease: suivre un traitement.^[9]
3. The salary of a civil servant.^[9][10]
4. The processing of a material or substance: le traitement des eaux usées;^[9][10][1] traitement de l'information, data processing;^[9][10][1] traitement de texte, word processing.^[9][10][1]
5. The way a subject or problem is dealt with.^[9][10]

Word family

• télétraitement
• retraitement

Related words

• traiter
• traité²
• tractation
• maltraiter
• Latin tractō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)