cadet French · revision 15720

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1466|origins=la caput}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka.dɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cadet''' (feminine cadette, masculine plural cadets, feminine plural cadettes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|oc|capdet|t=chief, captain]], a Gascon word,^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)^(FEW|2, 258a) corresponding to Provençal [[m|oc|capdel]], the source of [[cadeau]]^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); “-et” is the Gascon form of the suffix “-el”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) This goes back to [[la-lat|capitellum|t=little head]], a diminutive of [[la|caput|t=head]].^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873) The Gascon captains who served in the armies of the French kings in the 15th century were mostly younger sons of noble families, hence the sense “younger son”;^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) the ending may also have been felt as a diminutive.^(DHLF 1992) Pierre Guiraud suggests a confusion of Provençal “cadel” “chief” with “cadel” “young of an animal”, from [[la|catellus|t=puppy]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The sense “younger son” is found from the first records (1466, Jean de Bueil).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) A chronicle of Louis XI speaks of a Gascon captain ''nommé le capdet Remounent''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Cadet'' replaced ''puîné'' in the 18th century: in 1740 the Académie notes that it is the usual word in conversation.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) It came to mean any child born after the eldest, and also the youngest of a family (1671); as an adjective, ''branche cadette'' (1740) is a line descended from a younger son.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) By extension it is anyone younger than another (1690), and figuratively something of no importance, as in ''c'est le cadet de mes soucis'' (1812).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ In military use, from 1530, a ''cadet'' was a young nobleman serving as a soldier to learn the trade, as in the ''cadets de Gascogne'' made famous by Dumas and Rostand; it now means an officer cadet.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Larousse) In sport it named the golf caddie (1906; compare [[caddie]]) and a category of young athletes (1928).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1466 – “Younger son” (Jean de Bueil).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1530 – A young nobleman serving as a soldier.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1650 – ''Cadichon''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1671 – The youngest child.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1740 – ''Branche cadette''^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); ''cadet'' is the usual word (Académie).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1812 – ''Le cadet de mes soucis''^(DHLF 1992); ''cadet de Gascogne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1906 – A golf caddie.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1928 – A category of young athletes.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|younger]] child; a younger brother or sister: ''c'est mon cadet''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The youngest child of a family.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A person younger than another: ''il est mon cadet de trois ans''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(historical)'' A young nobleman serving as a soldier; today an officer [[m|en|cadet]].^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sport)'' A junior player.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Younger: ''frère cadet'', ''branche cadette''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''C'est le cadet de mes soucis'': it is the least of my worries.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[benjamin]]

+ * [[cadeau]]

+ * [[chef]]

+ * [[aîné]]

+ * [[en|cadet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}