Etymologically
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inflation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃn̩/ (UK); /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English inflacioun,[2][3] borrowed from Latin inflatio (“a puffing up, a blowing into, flatulence”),[2][3] from the past participle stem of inflāre (“to blow into, puff up”) (see inflate),[2][4] from in-, into, and flāre, to blow, which Watkins derives from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bhle- (“to blow”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A swelling caused by wind in the body, flatulence: before 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively it also meant outbursts of pride,[2] and the condition of being puffed up with vanity is from 1526.[5] Inflated language is from 1603.[5] The action of inflating with air or gas is from 1601.[5][2] Undue expansion, especially of the currency, is from 1838 in American English,[2][5] and NODE dates the economic sense to the mid-19th century.[4] In astronomy, the brief exponential expansion of the early universe is from 1981.[5]

Timeline

  • before 1340 – swelling with wind.[5]
  • 1526 – vanity.[5]
  • 1601 – inflating with air.[5]
  • 1838 – currency inflation.[2][5]
  • 1981 – in cosmology.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of inflating, or the state of being inflated.
  2. (economics) A continuing rise in the general level of prices, or fall in the purchasing power of money.

Word family

  • anti-inflation
  • disinflation
  • hyperinflation
  • inflationary
  • inflationism
  • inflationist
  • overinflation
  • reinflation
  • conflation
  • deflation
  • inflate
  • reflation
  • flatulent
  • blow

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press