émission

Forms

émission f (plural émissions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēmissiō (“a sending out, a launching”), from the supine of ēmittō (“to send out”) (the source of émettre).^[2][3][4][1] It is first recorded at the start of the 14th century in the Ovide moralisé, before the verb itself, and was taken to serve as the action noun of that verb.^[2][3][5]

Its physical sense, the giving off of rays or particles, spread under the influence of the English word emission as Newton used it in his work on optics (1704).^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Ovide moralisé (early 14th century) it means the act of sending or throwing something out.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first the word named the discharge of a body fluid; from the 15th century it was also used of producing vocal sounds.^[3][2] Furetière (1690) speaks of the émission des rayons visuels.^[2] From 1720 it named the giving off of particles or radiation by a body, after Newton's English.^[2][3]

Towards the end of the 18th century it was applied to putting paper money into circulation (1789), and then generally in banking and finance to the issuing of cheques, shares and stamps;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg date the financial sense to 1811.^[5]

From optics and physics came its use in radio, émission d'ondes (1917), which became general about 1920.^[3][2] By metonymy the word passed from the sending to what is sent, a radio programme (1936, Camus), and then to television.^[3]

English emission (early 15th century) came from Old French and directly from Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – First record in the Ovide moralisé.^[2][3]
• 15th century – Emission de soupirs, the production of a sound.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records émission des rayons visuels.^[2]
• 1720 – Physical sense “giving off of particles, radiation”, in Coste's translation of Newton.^[2]
• 1789 – Émission de papier in finance, in Le Moniteur.^[2]
• 1917 – Radio sense émission d'ondes in the Larousse mensuel.^[3]
• 1928 – Malraux writes of émission des radios.^[2]
• 1936 – Camus uses it for a radio programme.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physiology) The discharge of a fluid from the body.^[6][8]
2. The production of vocal sounds or of a musical note.^[6][2]
3. (physics) The emission of waves, particles, heat or radiation from a source.^[6][2]
4. (finance) The issue of money, cheques, shares or bonds, or of postage stamps.^[9][3]
5. The transmission of signals by radio or television.^[9][3]
6. A radio or television programme or show.^[9][1][3] émission en direct, en différé.^[3]

Word family

• émissif
• émissivité

Related words

• émettre
• Latin ēmittō
• English emission

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)