Décrits

Décrits is a term encountered mainly in French-language scholarly writing, used to refer to descriptions or descriptive notes associated with objects, texts, or phenomena. It is not a standard dictionary entry in general French usage; rather, it appears as a nominal form derived from the verb décrire in specific academic contexts. When used, the form décrits functions as a plural noun, sometimes used as a label or field name in digital editions.

Etymology and form: The construction draws from the verb décrire and the past participle décrit, with the plural ending -s to yield « décrits ». In practice, its use is analytic and contextual, rather than normal everyday language, and it may occur as a heading or category in scholarly apparatus.

Usage: In philology, codicology, and digital humanities, décrits may designate descriptive notes, entries in a catalog, or a descriptive corpus associated with a manuscript, artifact, or dataset. They may include physical description, content summaries, linguistic features, or metadata. The term is sometimes found in phrases such as « les décrits du manuscrit » or « une section des décrits », though many authors prefer the clearer standard term « descriptions » for ordinary prose.

Relation to other terms: Décrits is closely related to descriptions, metadata, and apparatus notes. It can be contrasted with descriptions in standard language to emphasize a particular descriptive collection or scholarly apparatus.

Limitations: The term is relatively rare and not universally recognized; readers should consider the context to determine whether « décrits » is being used as a technical label, a stylistic choice, or a translation artifact.

See also: description, metadata, philology, textual criticism, manuscript description.