bactérie

Forms

bactérie f (plural bactéries)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin bactērium, in a Frenchified form,^[2][3][1] a name coined in 1838 by the German naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg for a single-celled organism.^[2][3][4][5] It is a Latinization of a Greek diminutive meaning “little stick”,^[2][4][6] from Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría, “staff, walking stick”),^[2][3][5][7] because the first ones seen were rod-shaped.^[5] Rey links the Greek word to an Indo-European root for a stick also seen in Latin baculum (whence bacille) and Old Irish bacc;^[2] Picoche likewise places it in the family of a root Proto-Indo-European *bak- (“stick”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert has it first in 1842, in the Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle; the TLFi dates it 1845 (Bescherelle) and Bloch and Wartburg 1849.^[4][8][3]

Semantic evolution

The word spread mainly after Pasteur's discoveries of 1853 to 1860.^[2][3] Littré still defined it as a moving plant infusoire, found in many preserved foods and in the blood of animals dead of anthrax.^[9] Like bacille, it passed from zoology to microbiology, where the general modern word is microbe.^[2] Its derivatives date from the late 19th century: bactérien (1888), bactériologie (1888) and antibactérien (1889).^[2]

Timeline

• 1838 – Ehrenberg coins the Latin name bacterium.^[2][3]
• 1842 – First French record, in the Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle.^[4]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records it.^[8][2]
• 1853–1860 – The word spreads with Pasteur's discoveries.^[2][3]
• 1888 – Bactérien and bactériologie appear.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (biology) A bacterium, a single-celled micro-organisme without a true nucleus, visible only under a microscope, that reproduces by splitting and lives free or as a parasite.^[6][10][11]

Word family

• bactérien
• bactériologie
• antibactérien

Related words

• bacille
• microbe
• Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría)

Usage notes

An entomological homonym, bactérie (1845), comes from the scientific Latin genus name Bacteria given by Latreille to insects with a long, cylindrical body.^[2]

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 m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse