information French · revision 16908

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1274, documents of the commune of Poitiers|origins=la forma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.sjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''information''' ''f'' (plural informations)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|informer|-ation]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) [[la|īnfōrmātiō]], from the supine of [[m|la|īnfōrmō|t=to shape; to instruct]], meant “sketch, outline; idea, conception” and “explanation (of a word)”, senses not found in French, which is why the TLFi, Rey and the GLLF take the French noun from the verb;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007) Wiktionary and the Petit Robert give the Latin noun as the source.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007) The verb is a remaking after the Latin verb of Old French [[m|fro|enformer|t=to form, instruct]], from [[m|la|fōrma|t=form]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The Latin noun also gave [[pro|informacio]], [[es|información]] and [[it|informazione]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record (1274, Poitiers) is legal: an inquiry into a criminal matter by officers of the law;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''faire des enformacions'' “to hold judicial inquiries” is from 1323.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 14th century it meant the information one obtains about someone (about 1360, Jean le Bel, in the plural); about 1500 Commynes uses the plural for the body of knowledge gathered on a subject, a sense rare before the 20th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The scholarly sense “the giving of a form” (1495) has died out.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In the second half of the 19th century it came to mean the act of gathering information (''voyage d'information'', 1867), and under the Third Republic, with the growth of the press, information brought to the knowledge of the public (1886, Zola); hence, early in the 20th century, “the news” and “the informing of the public”.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The plural ''les informations'' is the news bulletin, familiarly ''les infos'' (1972), and, from the 1950s the word produced terms of the media and of computing such as [[informatique]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1274 – A criminal inquiry.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1323 – ''Faire des enformacions''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1360 – “Information (about someone)”, in Jean le Bel.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1500 – “Body of knowledge”, in Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1495 – “The giving of a form”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1867 – ''Voyage d'information''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1886 – News brought to the public, in Zola.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1972 – ''Infos'' “news bulletin”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of [[m|en|information]], ''(uncountable)'' information: ''des informations confidentielles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # News brought to the public, ''les informations'', the news bulletin on radio or television.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The act of informing the public, the [[m|en|media]]: ''la liberté d'information''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(law)'' A preliminary [[m|en|inquiry]] into an offence: ''ouvrir une information''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(computing, science)'' Information as data that can be stored and transmitted.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[informationnel]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[informateur]]

+ * [[informatique]]

+ * [[informer]]

+ * [[forme]]

+ * [[la|īnfōrmātiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}