Limogé

Limogé is a French term derived from the verb limoger, meaning to relieve someone of a post or command. As an adjective, limogé describes a person who has been dismissed, reassigned, or removed from a position. As a noun, the expression un limogé refers to the person who has been dismissed, while the act itself is called un limogeage.

Usage of the term is common in political and military contexts, where a minister, general, or senior civil servant is described as limogé after a formal dismissal or reallocation to a less prominent role. The sense often implies a public or official action rather than a voluntary departure. In English, equivalents include “to be relieved of command,” “to be cashiered,” or “to be dismissed from office.”

The etymology of limoger is contested. Some explanations suggest a historical or toponymic origin, while others treat it as a straightforward derivation from the verb. The earliest attestations appear in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, but there is no widely agreed single source for the term.

In contemporary usage, limogé tends to carry a nuance of stigma or irony, reflecting the sometimes politicized nature of removals from power. It is more prevalent in media coverage of public figures and less common in everyday private-sector speech.

See also: limoger; dismissal; cashiering.