coterie French · revision 15624

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1376, terre tenue en coterie}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ.tʁi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coterie''' ''f'' (plural coteries)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed with the suffix [[-erie]] on the stem of [[cotier]] (about 1283), a feudal term for a peasant holding a small tenure or for the rent paid on it, preceded by [[la-med|coteria]] (Rouen, 1255) and [[m|la-med|coterius]] (Domesday Book, 1086).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) ''Cotier'' comes from an Old French word for “hut”, reconstructed from Norman place names such as Vaucottes, as well as from the derivative [[m|fro|cotin|t=little house]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) which goes back to [[frk|*kot|t=hut]] in eastern Normandy and Picardy and to the matching [[non|kot]] in western Normandy.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg give only the Norse source;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary derives the Medieval Latin word from [[ang|cot]].^(Wiktionary) The same Germanic word is behind [[en|cottage]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Académie 9)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records are Picard customary law: Medieval Latin ''coteria'' “small rural tenure” (1255) and French ''terre tenue en coterie'' (1376), land held by a non-noble tenure.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By metonymy it came to mean the association of peasants holding such land together from the same lord (Cotgrave, 1611).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About the middle of the 17th century it spread to any circle of people who meet familiarly or support each other's interests (Oudin, 1660);^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) La Bruyère uses it, and the Académie in 1694 has ''il est de sa coterie''.^(GLLF 1989) The pejorative sense “clique” is explicit by 1808, when Hautel calls it a term of contempt for a band of intriguers,^(TLFi) though the neutral sense lived on, as in Proust's ''petite coterie'' of the Verdurins.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1086 – Medieval Latin ''coterius'' in the Domesday Book.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1255 – ''Coteria'' “small tenure” at Rouen.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1376 – ''Terre tenue en coterie''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1611 – An association of peasant tenants (Cotgrave).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1660 – A circle of familiar acquaintances (Oudin).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1808 – Explicitly pejorative.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(pejorative)'' A [[m|en|clique]], a small group supporting each other's interests: ''coterie littéraire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary)'' A circle of people who meet familiarly.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(feudal history)'' A peasant community holding land from a lord; land held by such a tenure.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|coterie]]

+ * [[en|cottage]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}