inspecteur French · revision 17547

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1447|origins=la speciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛ̃s.pɛk.tœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''inspecteur''' ''m'' (plural inspecteurs, feminine inspectrice)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|īnspector|t=observer; in late legal Latin, examiner, controller]], from the supine of [[m|la|īnspiciō|t=to look into, examine]], from [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|speciō|t=to look at]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Its first use follows Christian Latin [[m|la-ecc|īnspector cordis]], God who searches the heart.^(TLFi) The feminine form is a French derivative.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Internelle consolacion'' (dated 1447 by the TLFi, 1403 or 1406 by the GLLF and the Robert) ''inspecteur du cuer'' is God, who searches the heart.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Desrey (1532) uses it for a person who examines something, and Cotgrave (1611) for a person charged with a particular control, the modern sense.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Bloch and Wartburg give 1619 for this use and note that other uses appeared in the 19th century, when the administration multiplied its inspectors.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Larousse records ''inspecteur général des Finances'' in 1873 and ''inspecteur du travail'' in 1902;^(GLLF 1989) Hugo has ''inspecteur de police'' in 1862.^(GLLF 1989) The feminine ''inspectrice'' is in Boiste (1829) for a woman whose job is to inspect, and in the Académie (1842) for an inspector's wife.^(TLFi) Railways had their ''inspecteurs'' of the line in 1864.^(BHVF) The jocular ''inspecteur des travaux finis'' is someone who turns up when the work is done.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1447 – ''Inspecteur du cuer'', of God.^(TLFi)

+ * 1532 – “One who examines”, in Desrey.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – “One charged with a control”, in Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1781 – The derived verb ''inspecter''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1829 – The feminine ''inspectrice''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1862 – ''Inspecteur de police'', in Hugo.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1902 – ''Inspecteur du travail''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|inspector]]: an official who checks that a service works properly and that rules are applied: ''inspecteur du travail'', ''inspecteur des impôts''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''Inspecteur d'académie'': the head of education in a French ''académie'', ''inspecteur primaire'', an inspector of primary schools.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Inspecteur des finances'': a member of the Inspection générale des Finances.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Inspecteur de police'': a plain-clothes police officer, a [[m|en|detective]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(jocular)'' ''Inspecteur des travaux finis'': someone who turns up when the work is done.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inspecter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inspection]]

+ * [[spectacle]]

+ * [[la|īnspector]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}