English
agent provocateur
Agent provocateur comes from French agent provocateur.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentagent provocateurliterally ‘provocative agent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1925same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentagent provocateurliterally ‘provocative agent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1925same form
Earliest quotation: 1925, – 1926 May, In which the Reader is Shown the Habits of a Notorious Crimi: “This agent-provocateur business is quite foreign to British justice.”
The story
Borrowed from French agent provocateur (literally “provocative agent”).
Every English word from French agent provocateur
Today it means
noun A person who secretly disrupts a group's activities from within the group, particularly by encouraging or committing illegal acts to discredit the group or expose them to prosecution; an instigator, troublemaker.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French agent provocateur / agent provocateur