Printed and presented to the king in 1694, the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française is one of the first major monolingual dictionaries. Originally commissioned by the state and compiled by a group of forty writers, it has endured through the ages and the transformations of the French language, driven by its original ambition: to serve as the printed compendium of a common language, shared by the greatest number of people, and to be “useful both to foreigners who love our language and to the French themselves, who are sometimes at a loss regarding the true meaning of words.” Nine editions are now available on a free digital portal, offering a unique historical overview of the language. On June 4, 2026, a tenth tab was added, marking the launch of the 10th edition and a methodological turning point. At a time when French is undergoing new changes—including Francophone diversity, the inventiveness of Anglo-American English, and the influence of technology—the challenge is to take these into account while preserving the dictionary’s heritage and continuity.
By Sophie Tonolo, corresponding member of the Académie d’Arles. She is also an editor and lexicographer for the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française and a researcher in 17th-century French literature and language.
> Auditorium of the Arles Antique Departmental Museum
