benzine

Forms

benzine f (plural benzines)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Benzin, the name Eilhard Mitscherlich gave in 1833 to the substance that Faraday had discovered in 1825 and called “bicarburet of hydrogen”.^[2][3][4][1] Mitscherlich formed it from the element benz- of benzoïque with the suffix -in (French -ine), because he obtained it from the acid of benzoin.^[2][5][6] That adjective comes from New Latin benzoe, the botanists' name of benjoin (Bloch and Wartburg call it Medieval Latin).^[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mitscherlich's own paper in the Annales de chimie et de physique of 1833 explains the name: since the liquid is obtained from benzoic acid, le nom de benzine lui convient le mieux “the name benzine suits it best”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In chemistry the word named the liquid hydrocarbon obtained from benzoic acid and coal tar, but it was replaced in this sense by benzène (1835).^[2][6] It remained in common use for the commercial mixture of hydrocarbons sold as a stain remover and solvent.^[2][4] The sense “petrol”, a calque of the German Benzin, has been current in French-speaking Switzerland since 1909, where it competes with essence; in France it has gone out of use.^[2][6][7]

Timeline

• 1833 – Mitscherlich names it Benzin, and benzine appears in French.^[2][6]
• 1835 – Benzène appears and later replaces it in chemistry.^[2]
• 1909 – The sense “petrol” is recorded in French-speaking Switzerland.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A commercial mixture of hydrocarbons used to remove stains and as a solvent.^[4][6][8]
2. (chemistry, dated) Benzene.^[6][7][1]
3. (Switzerland) petrol, fuel for engines.^[7][2][1]

Related words

• benzène
• benzoïque
• benzoate
• benjoin
• German Benzin

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)