illégal French · revision 15935

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1370–1372, Oresme|origins=la lēx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i.le.ɡal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''illégal''' (feminine illégale, masculine plural illégaux, feminine plural illégales)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|illēgālis]] (1269),^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 241a) formed from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[la|lēgālis|t=relating to the laws]], from [[m|la|lēx|t=law]].^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) It may also be analysed as [[il-]] + [[légal]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Oresme's translation of Aristotle's ''Ethics'' (1370–1372) says ''Et semble que celui est dit injuste qui est illegal'', of a person who does not respect the law.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word applied at first to persons, Raynal (1770) used it of acts contrary to the law in their form, and Benjamin Constant (before 1830) of what opposes law in its foundation (''tout despotisme est illégal'').^(GLLF 1989) The Académie recorded it in 1762.^(TLFi) ''Illégalement'' dates from 1789, and ''illégalité'' from Oresme's time.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Gautier (1833) used it jokingly for what is improper.^(BHVF) In the mid-20th century ''un illégal'' was a person living outside the law, a clandestine.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1269 – Medieval Latin ''illegalis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370–1372 – ''Illegal'' in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1762 – In the Académie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1770 – Of acts, in Raynal.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1789 – ''Illégalement''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|illegal|alt=Illegal]], unlawful: ''exercice illégal de la médecine'', ''détention illégale''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person living outside the law, clandestine.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[illégalement]]

+ * [[illégalité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[légal]]

+ * [[loi]]

+ * [[la|lēgālis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}