allergie

Forms

allergie f (plural allergies)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Allergie,^[2][3][4][1] a word coined by the Austrian paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet (1906) from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work, action”), on the model of Energie.^[2][3][4] It first meant the particular way an infected organism reacts to a new inoculation of the same virus.^[2] Given how few early French records there are, the TLFi cannot say whether it came through the English allergy, recorded from 1913;^[2] Etymonline dates the English word to 1911, from the German.^[5] The GLLF instead takes the word from allergique.^[6]

The philosopher Blondel had used the word in 1893 for the action of others on one's own will.^[2] Picoche lists it among the learned compounds in -ergie, beside énergie and synergie.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Blondel's L'Action (1893) has l’allergie for the action of another person.^[2] The medical sense is dated 1909 by Rey and the Grand Robert,^[3][4] 1920 by the GLLF^[6] and July 1922 by the TLFi, in the Larousse mensuel illustré, defined as the change in an organism after a virus, such that a second inoculation produces different reactions.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Pirquet defined the notion as an altered and excessive reactivity; linked with that of immunity, allergy became a key idea in physiology and medicine, and the word gave many derivatives and compounds in German, English and French.^[3] It now covers abnormal sensitivity to pollen, food, medicines and other substances.^[2][9] Its success gave French allergie the figurative value of an instinctive hostility, which became usual about 1960–1970.^[3]

Timeline

• 1893 – Blondel uses allergie in philosophy.^[2]
• 1906 – Pirquet coins German Allergie.^[3][4]
• 1909 – The medical word is borrowed into French.^[3][4]
• 1911 – English allergy is recorded.^[5]
• 1920 – Allergique is recorded, and the GLLF dates allergie from a Larousse of this year.^[3][6]
• 1922 – The Larousse mensuel illustré defines the medical sense.^[2][8]
• 1960s – The figurative sense “instinctive hostility” becomes usual.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) An allergy: an abnormal, persistent sensitivity of the body to a substance with which it has been in contact before, as in allergie au pollen.^[2][9][10]
2. (figurative) An instinctive hostility or inability to bear something: Il a une allergie aux réunions.^[3][10][11]

Related words

• allergique
• allergène
• allergologie
• énergie
• German Allergie
• English allergy

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)