receveurs

Receveur is a masculine French noun whose plural is receveurs. The basic sense is “one who receives.” The word is used in several distinct contexts, some historical and some contemporary.

Etymology and usage

Receveur comes from Old French recevre, related to recevoir in meaning “to take back” or “to receive,” with the agent suffix -eur forming a person or role.

Occupational and official meanings

Historically, a receveur was a public or municipal official responsible for collecting money on behalf of an administration, such as taxes, rents, or duties. In many French-speaking regions, titles like receveur des contributions or receveur municipal referred to treasurers or tax collectors. The term is less common today in modern administration, where specific titles (such as receveur public, trésorier, or percepteur) are more typical.

Public transport usage

In older or regional contexts, a receveur could also mean a conductor or fare collector on buses, trams, or trains. This sense is largely archaic in many places, with modern terms like contrôleur or agent de conduite prevailing.

Architectural and household sense

Receveur is also used in building and plumbing vocabulary to denote a receiving receptacle or tray, such as a shower tray (receveur de douche) or a catch basin. In this sense, it refers to a physical receptacle designed to collect liquids or waste.

Devices and technology

In everyday French, the word tends to be superseded by récepteur when referring to devices that receive signals (radio, television, etc.). Receveur in this sense is uncommon outside older or more specialized language.

See also

Recevoir, récepteur, receveur public, receveur municipal.