atrophie

Forms

atrophie f (plural atrophies)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing by physicians, borrowed from Late Latin atrophia (“wasting, consumption”), a medical word of Late Latin,^[2][3][4] itself from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “wasting away, lack of nourishment”).^[2][5][1] The Greek noun is formed with the privative prefix ἀ- (a-) and τροφή (trophḗ, “food, nourishment”), from the verb τρέφω (tréphō, “to nourish”).^[2][5][6] Following Benveniste, the DHLF explains that the verb first meant “to make (a growing thing) develop”, hence “to feed, rear” and “to cherish”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1538, in the medical writings of Jean Canappe, for the wasting of an organ or a body through lack of nourishment.^[7][4][2] Littré quotes Ambroise Paré in the 16th century: La partie demeure languide et devient en atrophie (“the part stays feeble and falls into atrophy”).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word names the shrinking of a living structure, an organ, a tissue or a whole body, from a physiological cause or a disease.^[2][8] Botany and veterinary medicine use it as well as medicine.^[9]

Figuratively, from before 1847, it came to mean the arrest or decline of a faculty or a feeling, as in Flaubert's atrophie sentimentale.^[2][7][8] The verb atrophier first appeared as the participle atrophié (1572) and drove out the rival adjective atrophe (1564, Rabelais).^[2] English took atrophy from the French word in the 1610s.^[10]

Timeline

• 1538 – First recorded, in Jean Canappe.^[7][4]
• 1564 – Rabelais uses the rival adjective atrophe.^[2]
• 1572 – The participle atrophié is recorded.^[2]
• 1610s – English borrows it as atrophy.^[10]
• Before 1847 – First figurative use for the decline of a faculty.^[2]
• 1863 – Littré records the adjective atrophique.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine, biology) A decrease in the size of an organ, tissue or cell, from lack of nourishment, disuse, ageing or disease: atrophie musculaire.^[8][11][9]
2. (figurative) The decline or arrested growth of a faculty or feeling: une atrophie de la curiosité.^[8][7][11]
3. (figurative) A shrinking of activity: l'atrophie lente d'un village.^[11]

Word family

• atrophier
• atrophique

Related words

• hypertrophie
• Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía)
• English atrophy

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 l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 323a
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)