national French · revision 16844

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1534 (concille general ou nacionnal)|origins=la nāscor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /na.sjɔ.nal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''national''' (feminine nationale, masculine plural nationaux, feminine plural nationales)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Nacionnal'' (1534); ''national'' from 1550 (Meigret).^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|nation|-al]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) That noun is from [[la|nātiō|t=birth, origin; people]], from [[m|la|nātus|t=born]], the past participle of [[m|la|nāscor|t=to be born]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary compares [[la-new|nātiōnālis]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A document of Besançon (1534) speaks of a ''concille general ou nacionnal'' “general or national council”; the GR and the Petit Robert note that it was first a term of church organization.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Meigret (1550) uses it in grammar, and Montaigne contrasts natural justice with a justice ''speciale, nationale''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The word spread at the end of the 18th century.^(Petit Robert 2007) In 1756 d'Argenson calls the Estates General an ''assemblée nationale'', and on 17 June 1789 the deputies of the Third Estate proclaimed themselves the Assemblée nationale, La Fayette's ''garde nationale'' followed in July 1789.^(TLFi) Mirabeau (1789) uses it for what comes from and represents the nation: ''nous sommes ici par la volonté nationale''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Voltaire (1769) has ''les nationaux'' for the citizens of a nation.^(TLFi) The ''route nationale'' is recorded in 1875, and ''la nationale'' as a noun in 1933.^(TLFi) Familiar French also uses it ironically for what a group adopts as its own: ''le chant national de la saison'' (1866, Veuillot).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1534 – ''Concile nacionnal''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1550 – The form ''national'', Meigret.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1756 – ''Assemblée nationale'' for the Estates General, d'Argenson.^(TLFi)

+ * 1769 – ''Les nationaux'', Voltaire.^(TLFi)

+ * 1789 – ''Assemblée nationale'' (17 June) and ''garde nationale''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1875 – ''Route nationale''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|national]], of a nation: ''hymne national'', ''fête nationale'', ''territoire national''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Concerning the whole nation, as opposed to a region: ''l'Assemblée nationale'', ''l'éducation nationale''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Representing the nation: ''la volonté nationale''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar, ironic)'' Typical, adopted by a group as its own: ''le plat national''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural)'' Nationals, citizens of a country.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''La nationale'': a main road, ''route nationale''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nationalement]]

+ * [[nationaliser]]

+ * [[nationalisation]]

+ * [[nationalisme]]

+ * [[nationaliste]]

+ * [[nationalité]]

+ * [[international]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nation]]

+ * [[naître]]

+ * [[natal]]

+ * [[la|nātiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}