inaugurer French · revision 15812

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1355, Bersuire|origins=la augur}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.no.ɡy.ʁe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''inaugurer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|inaugurō|t=to take the auguries; to consecrate (a priest, a place) after taking the auguries]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|4, 617a) from [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|augurō|t=to foretell]], a derivative of [[m|la|augur|t=augur]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) French kept only the ideas of solemnity and novelty from these religious terms.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bersuire uses it about 1355 in his translation of Livy: ''Chose inaugurée estoit celle, ou fust lieux ou personne, qui aus diex consacrée et dediée touz jours perseveroit'', of a place or person consecrated to the gods.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was rare until the 18th century;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Trévoux (1752) records it of consecrating a ruler,^(GLLF 1989) a sense now obsolete.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The usual modern sense, “to open (a monument, a building, an exhibition) with a ceremony”, is recorded by the Académie in 1835.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) Figuratively Madame de Staël writes of ''inaugurer le règne de la justice'' (1817), “to introduce, initiate”,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) and in 1832 Karr uses it for “to use for the first time”.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ In the 20th century ''inaugurer les chrysanthèmes'' became a byword for the empty ceremonial duties of the French president.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1355 – ''Inaugurée'' in Bersuire.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1670 – The adjective ''inaugural''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1752 – “To consecrate (a sovereign)”, in Trévoux.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1817 – “To initiate”, in Madame de Staël.^(TLFi)

+ * 1832 – “To use for the first time”, in Karr.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – Opening a monument, in the Académie.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|inaugurate]], open (a building, monument or exhibition) with an official ceremony.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # To initiate, introduce for the first time: ''inaugurer une nouvelle politique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To use for the first time: ''inaugurer une robe''.^(Le Robert)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(dated)'' To consecrate (a sovereign).^(Le Robert)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inaugural]]

+ * [[inauguration]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[augure]]

+ * [[la|augur]]

+ * [[en|inaugurate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}