The Dictionnaire
The founding mission of the Academy since 1635: « to establish definite rules for our language ». Nine editions have been published since 1694, with the ninth currently in progress.
A continuous undertaking
The Dictionnaire is prepared by the dedicated Dictionary commission, which meets every Thursday in plenary session. Each entry — definition, etymology, examples, usage notes — is examined collectively. This communal discipline, unique in the world, guarantees the consistency and precision of the work.
The nine editions
| Edition | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1694 | First edition. Words grouped by etymological roots. |
| 2nd | 1718 | First fully alphabetical edition. |
| 3rd | 1740 | — |
| 4th | 1762 | Edition of the classical apogee. |
| 5th | 1798 | Revolutionary edition — neologisms supplement. |
| 6th | 1835 | — |
| 7th | 1878 | — |
| 8th | 1932 | — |
| 9th | 1986 | Currently published in fascicules. |
Online portal
All nine editions, from 1694 to today, are freely accessible online via the public portal dictionnaire-academie.fr. The interface allows browsing by lemma, etymology, century of attestation, or quoted author.
A witness and an arbiter
From the very first edition (1694), the Academy chose not to invent new words but to record those consecrated by the usage of good authors. Throughout the prefaces of successive editions, this stance has remained consistent: the Dictionnaire is both a witness and an arbiter — never a tyrant of the language.