complexe French · revision 15803

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=14th century, Jean Le Fèvre|origins=la plectō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ̃.plɛks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''complexe''' (plural complexes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|complexus|t=made of interwoven elements]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 984a) the past participle of [[m|la|complector|t=to embrace, encompass]], from [[m|la|com-]] and [[m|la|plectō|t=to plait, interweave]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The psychoanalytic sense is a calque of [[de|Komplex]], a term first used by the physiologist Josef Breuer (1895) and then by Jung and Freud (“Ödipuskomplex”, 1909–1910).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first use, in Jean Le Fèvre's ''La Vieille'' (14th century), is isolated and its sense unclear (''Complexion est sans complexe'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective was taken up in the 16th century for what is made of different elements (''complixe querelle'', 1564),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) and became a term of logic (''vérité complexe'', 1652, Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1667) and of mathematics (''nombre complexe'').^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) In everyday use it has drawn close to ''compliqué'' “complicated”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ As a noun meaning “whole, aggregate” it is found in physiology in 1781, and Claudel used it for a group of industries in 1918.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The psychological sense is recorded in 1906,^(BHVF) and spread with Freudian psychoanalysis (''complexe d'Œdipe'');^(DHLF 1992) ''complexe d'infériorité'' was in common use by 1930, and ''faire des complexes'' “to feel inferior” by 1960.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The noun ''complexité'' dates from 1755.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – An isolated use in Le Fèvre.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – ''Complixe querelle''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1652 – ''Vérité complexe'' in logic.^(TLFi)

+ * 1755 – ''Complexité''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1781 – The noun “aggregate” in physiology.^(TLFi)

+ * 1906 – A psychic ''complexe''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1918 – An industrial ''complexe'' in Claudel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1930 – ''Complexe d'infériorité'' in Morand.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Complex, made of several different parts: ''un problème complexe''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Complicated, hard to grasp.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' ''Nombre complexe'': a complex number, with a real and an imaginary part.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(grammar)'' ''Phrase complexe'': a sentence of several clauses.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(psychology)'' A [[m|en|complex]]: ''complexe d'Œdipe'', ''(familiar)'' a feeling of inferiority: ''avoir des complexes''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A group of buildings or industries: ''complexe sportif'', ''complexe industriel''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A [[m|en|coordination complex|alt=complex]] compound.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[complexité]]

+ * [[complexé]]

+ * [[complexer]]

+ * [[décomplexer]]

+ * [[complexifier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[complexion]]

+ * [[complice]]

+ * [[la|complector]]

+ * [[en|complex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}