ministre French · revision 16686

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 12th century, Oxford Psalter|origins=la minus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mi.nistʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ministre''' ''m'' or ''f'' (plural ''ministres''); familiar feminine ''ministresse'' “a minister's wife”^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|minister|t=servant, attendant; priest; agent]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/2, 115b)^(Wiktionary) formed on [[m|la|minus|t=less]] after [[m|la|magister|t=master]], with which it contrasts as servant does with master.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) In Christian Latin the plural named the servants of God, angels and then the clergy, and in Late Latin the word was used for a dignitary of the royal palace (663) and a public officer (8th–9th centuries).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Old French it was a doublet of [[ménestrel]] and [[ménétrier]], from which it was set apart by its political and religious senses.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Compare [[ro|ministru]], [[it|ministro]], [[es|ministro]] and [[pt|ministro]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it for a person who carries out a task in someone's service.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence (1174–76) uses it both for a royal officer and for a servant of God.^(TLFi) Until the 16th century it was mostly religious; from 1527 (''ministre de l'Évangile'') it is the term for a Protestant pastor.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) In politics it meant an adviser to a sovereign (Lemaire de Belges, 1509) and took its modern definition when such advisers held part of the executive power (''ministres du Roy'', Cotgrave, 1611), with ''ministre d'État'' (1671), ''premier ministre'' (Voltaire, 1747) and ''ministre sans portefeuille'' (1835).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Bossuet (1683) has it for an envoy to a foreign government, and ''ministre plénipotentiaire'' appears in 1834.^(TLFi) With the constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary Republic the ministers came to form a government.^(DHLF 1992) ''Papier ministre'', a large writing paper, is in George Sand (1861).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 12th century – “Servant”, Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * 1174–76 – A royal officer; a servant of God.^(TLFi)

+ * 1509 – Adviser to a sovereign, Lemaire de Belges.^(TLFi)

+ * 1527 – ''Ministre de l'Évangile''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Ministres du Roy'', Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – ''Ministre d'État''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1683 – An envoy, Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1747 – ''Premier ministre'', Voltaire.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – ''Ministre sans portefeuille''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|minister]], a member of the government at the head of a ministry: ''le ministre des Finances'', ''Premier ministre'', ''conseil des ministres''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Ministre plénipotentiaire'': a diplomatic envoy ranking below an ambassador.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A minister of religion; a Protestant [[m|en|pastor]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A servant, agent; a person who carries out a task.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Papier ministre'': a large size of writing paper.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ministrable]]

+ * [[ministresse]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ministère]]

+ * [[ministériel]]

+ * [[ménestrel]]

+ * [[ménétrier]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}