attitude French · revision 15899

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1637, Poussin|origins=la aptus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.ti.tyd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''attitude''' ''f'' (plural attitudes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|attitudine|t=posture; aptitude]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|25, 62a) attested in Leonardo da Vinci.^(TLFi) The Italian word is from [[la-lat|aptitūdō|t=aptitude]] (whence [[aptitude]]), from [[la|aptus|t=fit]],^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) but the TLFi and the DHLF see in the painters' sense a Vulgar Latin “*actitudo”, from [[la|actitō|t=to do often]], frequentative of [[m|la|agō|t=to do, act]], reshaped after “aptitudo”; another explanation is “aptitudo” reshaped after “actus” (see [[acte]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Poussin, in a letter to Stella (1637), writes of ''certaines attitudes naturelles, qui font voir dans le peuple juif la misère et la faim'': a term of painting for the position of figures.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word quickly passed into general use for the way one holds one's body (1670), and in dance ''l'attitude'' is a particular pose (Molière, 1670).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF) Bloch and Wartburg date the modern sense from 1796;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Napoleon's ''Mémoires'' (before 1821) use it for a stance or disposition towards someone (''l'attitude d'une grande cité qui se lève contre la rébellion'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It is now usual in psychology, sociology and everyday speech for a state of mind and the behaviour that shows it.^(DHLF 1992) In 2004 a song made fashionable the calque of English ''positive attitude''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1519 – Italian ''attitudine'' in Leonardo da Vinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 1637 – A term of painting, in Poussin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1670 – A bodily posture; a dance pose, in Molière.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)

+ * 1796 – The modern sense.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * Before 1821 – “Stance, disposition”, in Napoleon's ''Mémoires''.^(TLFi)

+ * 2004 – ''Positive attitude''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|posture]], way of holding one's body: ''une attitude gracieuse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' An affected pose: ''prendre des attitudes''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # An [[m|en|attitude]], behaviour reflecting a state of mind: ''une attitude ferme'', ''changer d'attitude''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(dance)'' An attitude (a pose on one leg).^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aptitude]]

+ * [[apte]]

+ * [[acte]]

+ * [[en|attitude]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}