Editing Prime minister (section)

==Etymology==
The term "prime minister" is attested in 17th century sources referring to [[Cardinal Richelieu]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnlnJbC2yRsC |title=Testament Politique du Cardinal Duc de Richelieu, Premier Ministre de France sous le Règne de Louïs XIII |year=1709 |access-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808195158/https://books.google.fi/books?id=rnlnJbC2yRsC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=8 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> after he was named ''premier ministre'' to head the French [[Royal Council of France|royal council]] in 1624. The title was used alongside the ''[[Chief minister of France|principal ministre d'État]]'' ("chief minister of the state") more as a job description. After 1661, [[Louis XIV]] and his descendants refused to allow one of their Ministers to be more important than the others, so the term was no longer in use.<ref>[http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/Ancien_Régime/105343 Ancien Régime] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031044903/https://larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/Ancien_R%c3%a9gime/105343 |date=31 October 2018 }} in Encyclopédie Larousse ("Après 1661, Louis XIV impose une nouvelle formule, qui joue à la fois sur les ministres et sur les conseils, sans accepter la primauté d'un ministre.")</ref>

In the 18th century in the United Kingdom, members of parliament disparagingly used the title in reference to [[Sir Robert Walpole]] (whose official title was [[First Lord of the Treasury]]). During the whole of the 18th century, Britain was involved in a prolonged conflict with France, periodically bursting into all-out war, and Britons took outspoken pride in their "Liberty" as contrasted to the "Tyranny" of French Absolute Monarchy; therefore, being implicitly compared with Richelieu was no compliment to Walpole. Over time, however, the title became honorific{{where|date=September 2022}} and remains so in the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oxford English Dictionary|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/151304?rskey=fPLQIK&result=2&isAdvanced=false#eid|access-date=15 December 2014}}</ref>