éjection

Forms

éjection f (plural éjections)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēiectiō (“a throwing out, expulsion”), borrowed in the second third of the 14th century.^[2][3] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert, the GLLF and Picoche date it to the 13th century.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of ēiciō (“to throw out”),^[4][3][8] from ex- and iaciō (“to throw”).^[3][8] It belongs to the family of jeter, beside the learned déjection, injection and objection.^[7] The verb éjecter came much later, in the 19th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Bible historiale (second third of the 14th century), has it in the sense “the act of driving someone out”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense of expelling a person,^[3] now a familiar use for throwing someone out of a place or a group.^[6][5][9] From 1610 it was used for the discharge of excrement and other matter from the body,^[6][3] a sense now dated.^[5][3]

The general idea of throwing something out was taken up by several techniques: the ejection of a spent cartridge case from a firearm (early 20th century),^[3][6] the ejection of a pilot from an aircraft by an ejector seat, the release of a moulded object from its mould,^[6][9], and a use in phonetics from 1951.^[3] The adjective éjectable (1948), said of a seat or a cabin, comes from the verb éjecter.^[3]

Timeline

• 1330–1370 – First recorded in the Bible historiale, of driving someone out.^[2][3]
• 1610 – Béroalde de Verville uses it for the discharge of excrement.^[6][3]
• Early 20th century – It names the ejection of a spent cartridge case.^[3]
• 1951 – It is used in phonetics.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of ejecting or throwing something out, or the fact of being ejected: l'éjection automatique du disque.^[9][5][6]
2. The ejection of a pilot from an aircraft by means of an ejector seat.^[9][6][5]
3. (technical) The release of a moulded object from its mould.^[9][6]
4. (familiar) The expulsion of someone from a place or a group.^[9][5][6]
5. (physiology, dated) The discharge of excrement from the body, or the matter discharged.^[5][6][8]

Related words

• éjecter
• éjectable
• jeter
• déjection
• injection
• objection
• Latin ēiciō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)