bacille

Forms

bacille m (plural bacilles)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin bacillus, a term of botany and entomology that Ferdinand Cohn, a German botanist, applied in 1872 to rod-shaped microorganisms.^[2][3][4] The TLF-Étym treats the bacterial sense, recorded from 1880, as a calque of that scientific Latin term.^[3] The Latin word is bacillus (“small rod, wand”), a diminutive of baculum (“stick, staff”);^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert give the source as bacillum (“little stick”).^[4][6][7] Rey compares Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría, “staff”), the source of bactérie, and Irish bacc (“crooked stick”), from a popular root Proto-Indo-European *bak-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1838, in botany, for a long stalk-like growth on some lichens.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1842 the Académie recorded a zoological sense, a plant-eating insect that looks like a twig, the European stick insect; this sense and the lichen sense have gone.^[2][6][8] The microbiological sense goes back to Cohn, who used bacillus in scientific Latin in 1872, for microscopic rod-shaped organisms beside the general name bactérie;^[2][4] in French it is found from 1880, of the agent of blackleg in cattle.^[3] Many bacilli are named by a phrase, such as bacille de Koch (1883).^[2][3] By extension the word names any disease-causing bacterium.^[8] From 1901 it was also used figuratively for a harmful person or thing.^[3][9] English bacillus dates from 1877.^[5]

Timeline

• 1838 – First recorded, in botany.^[2]
• 1842 – The Académie records it for the stick insect.^[2][6]
• 1872 – Cohn uses bacillus in scientific Latin for rod-shaped bacteria.^[2][4][3]
• 1880 – First recorded in French in the bacterial sense.^[3]
• 1883 – Bacille de Koch is recorded.^[3]
• 1884 – The adjective bacillaire is recorded.^[2]
• 1901 – First figurative use, for a malevolent person.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (bacteriology) A rod-shaped bacterium, a bacillus.^[8][9][1]
2. By extension, any pathogenic bacterium: bacille de Koch, the agent of tuberculosis.^[8]
3. Porteur de bacilles: a person who carries the germs of a contagious disease without showing its symptoms.^[9]
4. (figurative) A harmful person or thing.^[9][3]
5. (obsolete) The European stick insect.^[8][2]

Word family

• bacillaire
• bacillose
• colibacille

Related words

• bactérie
• imbécile
• Latin baculum
• English bacillus

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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 201b
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 c d 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