tricennal

Forms

tricennal (feminine tricennale, masculine plural tricennaux, feminine plural tricennales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin tricennālis (“of thirty years”), whose neuter plural tricennālia named festivals held every thirty years.^[2][3][4][5] The TLFi, the GLLF and Littré take the Latin adjective as a compound of Latin trīcēnī (“thirty each”) and annus (“year”);^[2][3][6] Wiktionary instead derives it from trīcennium (“period of thirty years”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1721 in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux, as the feminine plural noun tricennales, a span of thirty years and especially festivals celebrated every thirty years.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective “lasting thirty years, of thirty years” is entered in the Complément of the Académie dictionary in 1842,^[2][5][4] while the GLLF dates the present sense from Littré (1872).^[3][6] It remains a rare word of technical language.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1721 – The noun tricennales is recorded by the Dictionnaire de Trévoux.^[2][3]
• 1842 – The adjective is recorded in the Complément of the Académie dictionary.^[2][5]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records la table tricennale of a collection.^[2]
• 1872 – Littré records the adjective.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (rare, formal) Lasting thirty years, or covering a period of thirty years, tricennial: un bail tricennal “a thirty-year lease”.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• an
• trente
• Latin annus

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