astronome

Forms

astronome m or f by sense (plural astronomes)^[1] Earlier French astronomien, recorded about 1260 in Brunetto Latini.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin astronomus (“astronomer”), which is from Ancient Greek ἀστρονόμος (astronómos).^[2][3][4][5] The Greek word is formed from ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) and -νόμος (-nómos, “who distributes, arranges”), from νέμω (némō, “to distribute, manage”).^[2][6] Littré and the GLLF instead take the second part as νόμος (nómos, “law, rule”).^[7][4]

The word replaced the older French astronomien (about 1260), still used by Froissart in the 15th century.^[2][7] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary already records the word in the third quarter of the 12th century, in the wider sense of an astronomer or astrologer.^[8] Picoche places it in the learned family of astronomie (12th century) and astronomique (15th century).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Robert Estienne's French–Latin dictionary records astronome in 1549, beside astronomien, for one who knows and practises astronomy.^[9][2][10]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman the word covered both the astronomer and the astrologer, a scholar of the heavenly bodies and their influence.^[8] The TLFi still records the old sense “astrologer” in 19th-century texts, now dated, while the modern sense is a scientist who studies the motions and structure of the stars.^[11][4] It can be used as an adjective, rarely, of a person or even a people given to astronomy.^[11]

Timeline

• 1549 – Estienne's dictionary records astronome.^[9][2][3]
• 1811 – The sense “astrologer” is still found in Jouy's writing.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An astronomer, a scientist who studies the stars and other celestial bodies, their motions and structure.^[11][3][12]
2. (dated) An astrologer.^[11]
3. Astronome amateur: an amateur astronomer, un astronome amateur observe Jupiter.^[3]

Related words

• astronomie
• astronomique
• astrologue
• Latin astronomus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 631a
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 8, 222
11. ^ a b c d e 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
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)