tribunal

Forms

tribunal m (plural tribunaux)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tribūnal (“raised semicircular platform where magistrates sat”), from tribūnus (“tribune”).^[2][3][4][5] In Latin the word also named the praetor's box in the theatre, a funeral monument and a dike or causeway.^[3] It was borrowed first as an adjective, for the seat where a judge sits.^[3][6]

Cognate with Italian tribunale, Occitan tribunal and Spanish tribunal.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Laurent (1140–70) sié tribunal is the seat on which an emperor sits to give judgment.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it named the judge's seat itself (13th century), and by metonymy, or through a fresh borrowing from Latin, the place where judges sit (about 1480).^[3][2] It came to mean the body of magistrates of a court (1621) and a jurisdiction (1670).^[3][2] As the courts were organized, many phrases appeared, several during the Revolution: tribunal de cassation (1790), tribunal de commerce (1790; the TLFi has it in Voltaire in 1763) and the tribunal révolutionnaire of 1793, then tribunal correctionnel (1876) and tribunal pour enfants (1912).^[3][2]

In devotional language it came to mean the justice of God (tribunal éternel, 1615, tribunal de Dieu) and the confessional (tribunal de la pénitence, 1621).^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg note that this religious use is peculiar to French and dates from the 17th century, the medieval Latin tribunal ecclesiae meaning only “sanctuary, chapel”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1140–70 – Sié tribunal in the Vie de saint Laurent.^[2]
• 13th century – The noun names the seat of judges.^[2][3]
• c. 1480 – Tribunal de justice in the Mystère du Viel Testament.^[2]
• 1615 – Tribunal éternel “the justice of God”.^[2]
• 1621 – It means a body of magistrates;^[2] tribunal de la pénitence “confessional”.^[2]
• 1790 – Tribunal de cassation is created by decree.^[2][3]
• 1793 – The tribunal révolutionnaire is set up.^[2][3]
• 1912 – Tribunal pour enfants is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The place where justice is administered, a court.^[8]
2. A magistrate or body of magistrates exercising a jurisdiction; in law, a lower court as opposed to a cour: tribunal de commerce, tribunal de grande instance.^[8][2]
3. (figurative) A judgment or authority to which one submits: le tribunal de Dieu.^[3][7]
4. (Roman antiquity) The raised platform on which a magistrate's seat stood.^[2]

Related words

• tribun
• tribune
• Latin tribūnal
• English tribunal

References

1. ^ a b 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 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 k l m 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert