droit French · revision 17456

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Serments de Strasbourg (noun); c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (adjective)|origins=la regō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʁwa/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /dʁwɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''droit''' ''m'' (plural droits)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|dreit]], later ''droit''; in Middle French it was for a time spelled ''droict'' after the Latin.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ The popular pronunciation ''dret'', ''drette'', from an older value of the diphthong ⟨oi⟩, is still noted for speech, Quebec says ''dret en avant'' for ''droit devant''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[inh|fro|dreit]], [[inh|la|dīrēctus|t=straight, direct; at right angles]], figuratively “straightforward, just”, through a syncopated Late Latin form [[m|la-lat|drictus]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 87b) The noun, “law, right”, continues [[m|la-lat|dīrēctum]], the neuter of the adjective used as a noun, recorded in the 6th century for “justice” and in the 8th for “the body of laws”, Gregory of Tours has “verbum directum” “fair dealing”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Latin “dīrēctus” is the past participle of [[m|la|dīrigō|t=to set in a straight line; to direct]], itself from [[m|la|regō|t=to guide, rule]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The word is a doublet of the learned [[direct]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The sense “on the right-hand side” (15th century) is a special use of the adjective “just, correct”, developed of the right hand as the one that acts with precision; it drove out Old French [[m|fro|destre]] (see [[dextre]]) in the 16th century, as “gauche” drove out “senestre”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) Littré rejects the older idea that this “droit” came from [[la|dexter]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|diritto]], [[oc|drech]], [[ca|dret]], [[es|derecho]], [[pt|direito]] and [[ro|drept]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun is found as ''dreit'' in the Strasbourg Oaths of 842.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) The adjective appears about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' in the sense “right, true, exact” (''dreit num'' “his true name”), and the adverb “straight, directly” in the same text.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective kept both values of the Latin word.^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively it meant “honest, loyal” by about 1100 (''Chanson de Roland'') and “in keeping with reason, sound” in Wace (1130–1140), senses still alive; concretely it meant “without a bend” (about 1100) and “direct, without detour” (1155, ''dreite veie'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Angle droit'' takes up the Latin “at 90 degrees”, and the noun ''droite'', short for ''ligne droite'', is a geometry term from 1738.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The spatial sense “right, not left” is first found in the 15th century (''pied droit''); ''à droit'' (Rabelais, 1532) gave way to ''à droite'' (Montaigne, 1580), and the political ''la droite'', the deputies seated on the right of the Assembly, dates from 1793 (''le côté droit'', 1790–1792).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ The noun was first used for what is just and moral in general; it then named the laws and customs of a people (1155), a particular rule (early 13th century) and the study of law (late 13th century), whence ''droit civil'', ''droit pénal'' and so on.^(DHLF 1992) From 1080 it also meant what one may claim, as in ''avoir droit à'' and ''être dans son droit''; by metonymy it named a fee or duty paid for a right (1160), and ''les droits de l'homme'' is recorded in 1774.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – The noun ''dreit'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1050 – The adjective, “right, true”, and the adverb “straight” in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – “Honest, just” and “without a bend” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – The noun names the laws of a people.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1160 – A fee or duty.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 15th century – ''Pied droit'', the first spatial use “right-hand”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''À droite'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1738 – ''Droite'' “straight line” in Voltaire.^(TLFi)

+ * 1774 – ''Les droits de l'homme''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1793 – ''La droite'' of the political right.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|straight]], without a bend or curve; upright, [[m|en|vertical]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(geometry)'' ''Angle droit'': a [[m|en|right angle]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Honest, [[m|en|upright]]; sound, sensible: ''un esprit droit''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # [[m|en|right]], on the right-hand side: ''la main droite''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Straight, directly: ''aller droit au but'', ''tout droit''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Marcher droit'': to behave, toe the line.^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine)'' A right, an [[m|en|entitlement]]: ''avoir le droit de'', ''les droits de l'homme''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine)'' [[m|en|law]] as a body of rules or a field of study: ''droit civil'', ''faire son droit''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(masculine)'' A fee or [[m|en|duty]]: ''droits de douane'', ''droits d'auteur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(feminine)'' ''La droite'': the right-hand side; the political right; in geometry, a straight line.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[droitier]]

+ * [[droiture]]

+ * [[adroit]]

+ * [[endroit]]

+ * [[maladroit]]

+ * [[passe-droit]]

+ * [[ayant droit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[direct]]

+ * [[dextre]]

+ * [[diriger]]

+ * [[la|dīrēctus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}