astringent

Forms

astringent (feminine astringente, masculine plural astringents, feminine plural astringentes)^[1] The latinizing spelling adstringent is recorded in 1553 by the DHLF,^[2] while the Grand Robert gives it as the form of 1537.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing of the Renaissance, borrowed from Latin astringēns (“binding, contracting”), the present participle of astringō (“to tighten, bind fast”), a verb that medical Latin also used for “to constipate”.^[2][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from ad- and stringō (“to draw tight, squeeze”).^[3][6] It is also the source of astreindre.^[2][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GLLF dates the word to 1537, in the medical writings of Jean Canappe, for what tightens or contracts living tissue.^[5][4] Littré's 16th-century quotation from Ambroise Paré applies it to foods: Les viandes de difficile digestion, ou astringentes (“foods that are hard to digest, or astringent”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word has stayed above all a medical term for what draws living tissue together, and it was soon used as a masculine noun for such a remedy.^[2][9] The Académie recorded both uses in 1694, with an astringent that stops bleeding.^[10]

From the 19th century writers applied it by analogy to a biting cold and, figuratively, to a sharp or bracing turn of mind or style, as Sainte-Beuve did in 1869.^[9] It also describes a harsh, puckering taste or smell, as of tannin or lemon juice.^[11] The noun astringence was formed in 1816.^[2][11]

Timeline

• 1537 – First recorded, in Jean Canappe.^[5][4]
• 1553 – The latinizing spelling adstringent appears.^[2]
• 16th century – Ambroise Paré calls foods that are hard to digest astringentes.^[8]
• 1694 – The Académie records the adjective and the noun.^[10]
• 1816 – The derivative astringence is formed.^[2][11]
• 1869 – Sainte-Beuve uses it figuratively of a bracing bitterness in talent.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (medicine) That constricts or tightens living tissue: une lotion astringente.^[11][9]
2. Of a taste or smell, harsh and puckering.^[11]
3. (figurative, literary) Sharp, bracing.^[9]

Noun

1. An astringent substance, such as alum or tannin.^[11][9][12]

Word family

• astringence

Related words

• astreindre
• Latin astringō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 620b
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f 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
10. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
11. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)