charge French · revision 38678

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1130, Voyage de Charlemagne|origins=la carrus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃaʁʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''charge''' ''f'' (plural charges)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|carge]] (about 1130), then [[m|fro|charge]] (1170).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ Northern texts have [[m|fro|kierke]] (1226) and [[m|fro|quierque]] (about 1225).^(TLFi)

+ Anglo-Norman spellings include [[m|xno|carke]], [[m|xno|charche]] and [[m|xno|chearge]].^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun formed from [[charger]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|2, 416a)^(Wiktionary) The verb goes back to [[la-lat|carricō|t=to load]], syncopated to [[m|la-lat|carcō]], from [[m|la|carrus|t=wagon]], so that it first meant putting something into a wagon.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin noun is also the source of [[char]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|carica]], [[oc|carga]], [[es|carga]] and [[pt|carga]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''carge'' in the ''Voyage de Charlemagne'' (about 1130), for what weighs on or is carried by a person, an animal, a vehicle or a ship.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the ''Quatre livres des Rois'' (about 1170) David tells Hushai ''tu m'iers à charge'' “you will be a burden to me”, the first record of ''être à charge''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The physical sense spread to measures of goods (1268, ''Livre des métiers''), to the powder put into a firearm (1564, Paré) and to the loading of a ship (1690, Furetière).^(TLFi) In electricity the action of charging is recorded in a translation of Franklin (1752), and, from it the quantity of electricity in a body, with ''charge positive'' and ''charge négative''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The figurative sense of a burden led to “dues, tax” (1226), “office, task” (about 1225) and, in law, a public responsibility (1580, Montaigne) and a fact weighing against an accused person (1437, Charles d'Orléans), whence ''témoin à charge''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the arts a ''charge'' was an exaggeration (1675) and then a [[caricature]] (1680, Richelet), with the literary genre named in the ''Encyclopédie'' (1753) and phrases such as ''portrait-charge''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun of action the word is chiefly military: it is an attack (about 1540, Herberay des Essarts), from the verb ''charger'' “to attack”, and Furetière records ''revenir à la charge'' figuratively in 1690.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The anglicism ''être en charge de'' “to be responsible for” is usual in Quebec French and is spreading in administrative and business French in Europe.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Carge'' in the ''Voyage de Charlemagne''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Estre a charge'' “to be a burden”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – ''Quierque'' “office, task”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1226 – ''Kierke'' “dues” in a charter of the Countess of Flanders.^(TLFi)

+ * 1437 – The legal sense of a fact weighing against an accused.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1540 – A military attack.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – A charge of gunpowder, in Paré.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – A public office, in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – Richelet records the sense “caricature”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Furetière records ''revenir à la charge''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1752 – The electrical sense, in a translation of Franklin.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|load]], what a person, animal or vehicle carries: ''bête de charge'', ''charge utile'', payload.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|cargo]] of a ship; the loading of a ship.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(technical)'' The weight borne by part of a structure.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The quantity of powder or explosive put into a firearm or a mine.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(physics)'' An electric charge; the charging of a battery.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|burden]], something troublesome: ''être à charge à quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # An [[m|en|expense]]; in the plural, costs, especially the running costs of a flat or building: ''charges comprises''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''À charge'': dependent: ''deux enfants à charge'', ''prendre en charge'', to take responsibility for.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' An obligation attached to a contract or gift: ''cahier des charges''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|office]] or post, especially a public one: ''une charge de notaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(law)'' Evidence or a charge against an accused person: ''témoin à charge''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' A charge, an [[m|en|attack]]: ''sonner la charge'', ''revenir à la charge'', to try again.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|caricature]], comic exaggeration.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A figure on a shield.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chargement]]

+ * [[chargeur]]

+ * [[recharger]]

+ * [[surcharge]]

+ * [[décharge]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[charger]]

+ * [[char]]

+ * [[cargaison]]

+ * [[la|carrus]]

+ * [[en|charge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}