déficit French · revision 16051
17 Oct 2026, 22:02 by bogdan “New French entry (TLFi, FEW, DHLF, Bloch–Wartburg…)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1560|origins=la dēficiō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /de.fi.sit/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''déficit''' ''m'' (plural déficits)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is Latin [[m|la|dēficit|t=it is lacking]], taken over unchanged,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 30a) the third person singular present of [[la|dēficiō|alt=dēficere|t=to fail, be lacking]], from “dē-” and [[la|faciō|alt=facere|t=to do, make]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) It was written in inventories against the items that were missing.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A 1560 inventory (Thierry) has it for an item missing from an inventory;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date it to 1589 (L'Estoile).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It became a term of finance in 1771 (Trévoux): the sum that a budget lacks to balance income and expenditure.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rousseau's ''Confessions'' already use it figuratively, and by extension it is any shortfall (Proudhon, before 1865), and in medicine, psychology and climatology a deficiency (''déficit immunitaire'').^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) ''Déficitaire'' dates from 1909.^(DHLF 1992) English ''deficit'' was taken from French in 1782.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1560 – In an inventory.^(TLFi)
+ * 1589 – In L'Estoile.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)
+ * 1771 – In finance.^(TLFi)
+ * 1782 – English ''deficit''.^(Etymonline)
+ * Before 1865 – Any shortfall, in Proudhon.^(GLLF 1989)
+ * 1909 – ''Déficitaire''.^(DHLF 1992)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(finance)'' A [[m|en|deficit]]: ''déficit budgétaire'', ''être en déficit''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)
+ # A shortfall, shortage: ''un déficit en main-d'œuvre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)
+ # ''(medicine)'' A deficiency: ''déficit hormonal'', ''déficit immunitaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[déficitaire]]
+ * [[déficitaire]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[déficient]]
+ * [[défectif]]
+ * [[défection]]
+ * [[en|deficit]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}