ouvrier French · revision 16896

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1st half of the 12th century, Psautier de Cambridge|origins=la opera}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /u.vʁi.je/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ouvrier''' ''m'' (plural ouvriers, feminine ouvrière)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|ovrer]], [[m|fro|overier]], [[m|fro|ovrier]] (12th century); ''ouvrier'' from the 13th century, after [[ouvrage]] and [[ouvrer]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|ovrier]], [[inh|la|operārius|t=of work; labourer]], from [[m|la|opera|t=work, effort]] (see [[œuvre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The very rare [[opéraire]] is a learned doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|operaio]], [[pro|obrier]], [[ca|obrer]], [[es|obrero]] and [[pt|obreiro]].^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935) Littré gives [[wa|ovrî]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has it for an agent, a doer: ''envers les ovrers de felunie'' “against the workers of iniquity”, translating ''adversum operarios iniquitatis''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1155 (Wace) it had its modern sense, a person hiring out his services for a wage to do manual work, and also a person who does a job skilfully.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Until the 18th century it was more or less a synonym of [[artisan]], sometimes of [[artiste]]; with the industrial revolution of the 18th and especially 19th century it came to name the industrial proletariat, as in ''la classe ouvrière'' (1808).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) From the 15th century it could imply practical skill without talent, as in ''en la fin l'on cognoist l'ouvrier''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Twentieth-century terms include ''ouvrier d'État'' (1903) and ''ouvrier spécialisé'' (1931), shortened to O. S. (1950), which misleadingly names an unskilled worker.^(DHLF 1992) The adjective is old in ''jour ouvrier'' “working day” (early 12th century); ''ouvrières'' are worker bees in the ''Encyclopédie'' (1751).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Slang used it for a thief (1836).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 12th century – ''Jurn uvrer'' “working day”, in the ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1st half of the 12th century – ''Ovrer'' “doer”, in the Cambridge Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1155 – A wage labourer; a skilled worker, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1273 – The form ''ouvrier'', in Adenet.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1751 – Worker bees.^(TLFi)

+ * 1808 – ''La classe ouvrière''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1931 – ''Ouvrier spécialisé''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|worker]], [[m|en|labourer]], a manual worker paid a wage: ''ouvrier agricole'', ''ouvrier d'usine'', ''ouvrier qualifié'', skilled worker.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' A person who does a work, an artisan: ''à l'œuvre on connaît l'ouvrier''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(feminine)'' ''Ouvrière'': a worker bee or ant.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(Louisiana)'' A carpenter.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of workers, working-class: ''la classe ouvrière'', ''le mouvement ouvrier''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Jour ouvrier'': a working day.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[œuvre]]

+ * [[ouvrer]]

+ * [[ouvrage]]

+ * [[opéraire]]

+ * [[la|operārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}