organiser French · revision 17490

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=14th century|origins=grc ὄργανον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔʁ.ɡa.ni.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''organiser'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|organe|-iser]], a learned formation.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[organe|alt=Organe]] is borrowed from [[la|organum|t=instrument; organ]], from [[grc|ὄργανον|tr=órganon|t=instrument]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary instead traces it to Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|organizō]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg date the verb to the 14th century, in the sense “to make fit for life”;^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) the TLFi's first record of “to provide with organs” is from 1510–1520.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A 14th-century poem, ''L'Alchimiste à nature'', says that our bodies are ''si très bien organisez'', fitted with organs and made fit for life.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The idea of giving matter the arrangement of a living body was extended to giving any whole a structure: Sieyès uses it in this sense in 1789, and the political and administrative uses (''organiser une armée'', ''organiser le travail'') spread with the Revolution.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Mercier has “to arrange, prepare (an event)” in 1801, and Cocteau “to submit (one's life, one's time) to a method” in 1929.^(TLFi)

+

+ The past participle ''organisé'' meant “having such and such a physical or moral disposition” in Madame de Sévigné (1672),^(TLFi) and “belonging to an organization” in Michelet (1847).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – “To make fit for life”, in ''L'Alchimiste à nature''.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1510–1520 – “To provide with organs”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – ''Organisé'' of a person's disposition, in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – The Académie records the verb.^(TLFi)

+ * 1789 – “To give a structure to”, in Sieyès.^(TLFi)

+ * 1801 – “To arrange, prepare”, in Mercier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1929 – “To submit to a method”, in Cocteau.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give a [[m|en|structure]] or a way of working to: ''organiser le travail'', ''organiser la résistance''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To [[m|en|plan]] and prepare (an event or action): ''organiser une fête'', ''organiser un voyage''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # To arrange (one's time, one's life) according to a method.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''S'organiser'': to take shape; of a person, to arrange one's activities efficiently.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated)'' To give matter the structure of a living body.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[organisation]]

+ * [[organisateur]]

+ * [[désorganiser]]

+ * [[réorganiser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[organe]]

+ * [[organisme]]

+ * [[orgue]]

+ * [[grc|ὄργανον|tr=órganon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate, older verb ''organiser'' “to play the organ”, from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|organizō]], was used from the 14th to the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}