antibiotique

Forms

antibiotique m (plural antibiotiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French anti- + biotique.^[1] Rey dates it to 1871 (Dr Hallopeau), with the broad sense “opposed to life”, from the prefix and Ancient Greek βιωτικός (biōtikós, “of life”), from βίος (bíos, “life”).^[2] The Grand Robert dates it to 1878 and notes the influence of antibiotic, which in English meant “opposed to the belief that life is present or possible”; it credits Vuillemin with it in 1889,^[3][4] and Wiktionary calls it a coinage of the mycologist Jean Paul Vuillemin in 1889.^[1]

The modern sense comes from English: Waksman took up the adjective in 1941–1942 for a substance made by micro-organisms that acts against other, disease-causing micro-organisms, and the noun antibiotics followed in 1944;^[2] French at once borrowed both the adjective and the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first French use, by Dr Hallopeau in 1871, it meant broadly “opposed to life”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was little used until Waksman's sense spread in the 1940s, after the work of Fleming, Dubos and Florey; the English noun was made widely known in 1949 by Florey and his colleagues.^[2] French took it over with the names of the individual substances such as pénicilline, and it became a key word of medicine and of everyday speech.^[2]

The French word had earlier passed into English: the English adjective “destructive to micro-organisms” is dated 1894, from French antibiotique.^[5]

Timeline

• 1871 – Used by Dr Hallopeau in the sense “opposed to life”.^[2]
• 1878 – The date the Grand Robert gives.^[3][4]
• 1889 – Used by the mycologist Vuillemin.^[3][1]
• 1894 – English antibiotic “destructive to micro-organisms”, from French.^[5]
• 1928 – The Larousse du XXe siècle, the first dictionary date the Trésor gives for the adjective.^[6]
• 1941–1942 – Waksman takes up the word in English for substances made by micro-organisms.^[2][5]
• 1949 – Recorded as a noun by Larousse.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a substance: produced by micro-organisms, or made synthetically, and able to destroy other micro-organisms or stop their growth.^[4][8]
2. Relating to antibiotics.^[9]

Noun

1. An antibiotic: a natural or synthetic substance used against infections caused by bacteria: prendre des antibiotiques, être sous antibiotiques.^[9][4]

Word family

• antibiothérapie

Related words

• antibiose
• biotique
• biologie

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)