Chronologique

Chronologique is a French adjective that designates anything related to time or to the arrangement of events in the order in which they occur. In practice, it refers to presenting, organizing, or dating information according to temporal sequence. The English equivalent is chronological.

Etymology and scope: chronologique derives from the noun chronologie, which comes from Latin chronologia and Greek chronologia, built from chronos meaning time and -logia meaning study or discourse. As an adjective, chronologique can modify nouns to express time-based ordering, such as a liste chronologique (chronological list) or une histoire chronologique (a chronological history).

Applications and usage: The term is widely used in history, archaeology, and archival work to describe methods or outputs that place events in time order. In archives or libraries, documents may be organized chronologiquement (chronologically). In research, a chronologique approach assembles data or narratives from earliest to latest, sometimes complemented by absolute dating (specific dates) or relative dating (sequence of events). In literature and film, a récit chronologique presents events in their temporal order, in contrast with non-linear or flashback structures.

Relation to other concepts: Chronologie, or chronology, is the broader field that studies the temporal arrangement of events. Problems can arise from calendar changes, dating conventions, or differing calendars, which affect how a sequence is published or interpreted. In data processing and information management, sorting data chronologically is a common operation for timeline construction and trend analysis.

See also: chronology, chronological order, dating, timeline, archival organization.