accélérateur

Forms

accélérateur (feminine accélératrice, masculine plural accélérateurs, feminine plural accélératrices)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French accélérer + -ateur.^{[2][3][1][4][5]} The verb is from Latin accelerō, formed on celer (“swift”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave first records it in 1611, both as a noun, “a speeder, hastener, dispatcher”, and in muscle accélérateur, a muscle that expels urine and semen.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1752 the Trévoux dictionary gives it in anatomy, of muscles that speed the passage of urine and semen, and in physics, in force accélératrice, the force that speeds up a body's motion.^[2][3][6] With the growth of technology the noun named devices of many kinds: a regulator that let electric clocks make up lost time (1890), a substance that speeds up the developing of photographs (1891), and, since 1898, the control of the internal combustion engine, the sense most familiar today.^[2][7] Later came uses in chemistry (1928, a product that shortens the vulcanization of rubber), in nuclear physics (accélérateur de particules, in dictionaries from 1953, though the device dates from 1931) and in building (1963, an additive that speeds the setting of concrete).^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1611 – Cotgrave records the noun and muscle accélérateur.^[2][4]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records the anatomical noun and force accélératrice.^[2][6]
• 1890 – Used for a device in electric clockmaking.^[2]
• 1891 – Used in photography for a substance that speeds a reaction.^[2][7]
• 1898 – Used for the engine control of a motor car.^[7]
• 1907 – The Nouveau Larousse illustré records the car accelerator, usually worked by a pedal.^[2]
• 1928 – Used in chemistry for a vulcanization accelerator.^[2][7]
• 1953 – Accélérateur de particules is recorded in dictionaries.^[2][7][8]
• 1963 – Accélérateur de prise appears in building.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That speeds something up: force accélératrice.^[8][5][9]
2. (anatomy, physiology) Of a muscle or nerve that speeds up an evacuation or an organ's activity.^[2][9]

Noun

1. The device that controls the fuel mixture admitted to an engine and so its speed, also the pedal that works it, the accelerator: appuyer sur l'accélérateur.^[8][6][5]
2. (building) An additive mixed into mortar or concrete to speed its setting.^[8][2]
3. (photography, chemistry) A substance that speeds up a reaction, such as development or vulcanization.^[8][2]
4. (physics) Accélérateur de particules: a machine that gives charged particles very high energies.^[8][2]

Related words

• accélération
• Latin accelerō

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette