appartement French · revision 16045

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1559, Joachim du Bellay|origins=it appartamento}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.paʁ.tə.mɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''appartement''' ''m'' (plural appartements)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|appartamento]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) which the Petit Robert and Rey take from [[es|apartamiento|t=separate place, dwelling]], a derivative of “apartarse” “to move apart, separate” (compare [[it|appartare|t=to set apart]]), from [[la|pars|t=part]] (see [[part]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary) Littré proposed a Low Latin “appartiamentum” “division”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Du Bellay used it in 1559; it was rare before the 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century it was a part of a great house set apart for one person's use (''les appartements'' of a prince in a palace), and in classical French ''il y a appartement'' meant a royal reception with music and dancing.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It could also simply mean a room, a sense that survives in Canadian French.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ With apartment buildings divided in advance (early 19th century), it came to mean a dwelling of several rooms within such a building.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The commercial phrase ''vente par appartements'' (the sale of a group by divisions) is used figuratively from the 1980s, and the familiar ''appart'' dates from 1976.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse) English ''apartment'' was borrowed in the 1640s for private rooms in a house.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1559 – In Du Bellay.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1640s – English ''apartment''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 17th century – Part of a great house.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Early 19th century – A flat.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1842 – The variant ''à part''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1976 – ''Appart''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|apartment]], [[m|en|flat]]: ''un appartement de quatre pièces'', ''plantes d'appartement'': house plants.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' The private rooms of a great personage: ''les appartements royaux''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated, Canada)'' A room.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[part]]

+ * [[département]]

+ * [[en|apartment]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}