dessein French · revision 16023

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=15th century, Chronicles of the canons of Neuchâtel}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /de.sɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dessein''' ''m'' (plural desseins)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Desseing'' (15th century), ''desain'' (1548), ''desseing'' (Ronsard, 1552, Montaigne).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of “des(s)eigner”, the old form of [[dessiner]], which in the 16th century also meant “to plan”, after its source [[it|disegnare]] (with this sense since the 15th century);^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|3, 53b) the Grand Robert stresses the influence of Italian “disegno”.^(Grand Robert 2005) The verb goes back to [[la|dēsignō|alt=dēsignāre|t=to mark out]].^(Wiktionary) [[dessin]] is a doublet, and so is [[en|design]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chroniques des chanoines de Neuchâtel'' (15th century) have ''desseing'' “plan”; a record of about 1265 comes from an 18th-century copy in modernised style and must be set aside.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the end of the 18th century ''dessein'' was more common than ''dessin'' in both senses, “plan” and “drawing”, Richelet (1680) condemned the spelling ''dessin'' for the painter's term.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) It then kept only “plan, intention”, mostly in the plural and in a formal register (''les desseins de la Providence'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''À dessein'' “on purpose” is used as an adverb and ''à dessein de'' (17th century) as a preposition.^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec French ''sans-dessein'' “idiot”, from a Normandy sense of ''dessein'' “wits, sense”, is common.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 15th century – ''Desseing'' “plan”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1548 – ''Desain'' in Marguerite de Navarre.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Desing'', the later ''dessin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1552 – ''Desseing'' in Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – Richelet condemns ''dessin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 18th century – Restricted to “plan”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' A plan, [[m|en|design]], intention: ''former le dessein de partir'', ''de noirs desseins''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''À dessein'': on purpose, deliberately.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Avoir des desseins sur qqn'': to have designs on someone.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dessiner]]

+ * [[dessin]]

+ * [[désigner]]

+ * [[en|design]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}