alun

Forms

alun m (plural aluns)^[1] Old French alun, alum; the spelling alum was still noted in the 19th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French alum, inherited from Latin alūmen (“alum”).^[4][1][5][6] Littré notes that the French word is the regular outcome of the Latin one, as Old French leun was of legūmen, while alumine is a later learned form.^[3]

Cognate with Walloon alon, Occitan alum, Catalan alum, Spanish alumbre and Italian allume.^[3][7][5] The English word alum (late 14th century) came from the Old French word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in La Prise d'Orange (1148), in the line Fardoillié furent d'alun et d'arrement.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages alum was a mordant for dyers and tanners: the Livre des métiers forbids dyers to use poor kinds of alum, and Joinville describes sheepskins dressed with it.^[3][2] Ambroise Paré in the 16th century used alun de roche and burnt alum in medicine.^[3] In modern chemistry the word names any double sulphate of a trivalent and a monovalent metal, and in ordinary use potash alum, an astringent.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1148 – Alun in La Prise d'Orange.^[4]
• 13th century – The Livre des métiers regulates its use by dyers.^[3]
• 1372 – Corbechon's Propriétés des choses names it among things harmful to vines.^[10]
• late 14th century – English alum is first recorded.^[8]
• 16th century – Paré uses alun de roche and alun calciné.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. alum, a hydrated double sulphate of potassium and aluminium, used in dyeing, tawing and medicine as an astringent.^[9][4]
2. (chemistry) Any double sulphate of a trivalent metal and a monovalent metal.^[9][4][11]

Related words

• alumine
• aluminium
• Latin alūmen

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
3. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 376b
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)