biosphère

Forms

biosphère f (plural biosphères)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French bio- + -sphère.^[2][3][4] In its modern geographical sense (1900) it was probably taken from German Biosphäre, a word coined in 1888 by the Austrian geologist Suess and brought into French by de Margerie's translation of his work on the face of the Earth.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in biology, in the 1842 supplement to the Académie's dictionary, for a hypothetical globular atom thought to be the sole basis of all organized bodies; the TLFi dates this sense from 1838.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense belonged to 19th-century speculation and is found in most general dictionaries of that century, but it has gone out of use.^[2][5] In 1900 Emmanuel de Margerie's translation of Suess, La Face de la Terre, gave the word its modern meaning: the part of the terrestrial sphere where life is found.^[2][5] It then came to mean the whole of the living organisms on the Earth's surface and, by extension, these organisms together with the layers of land, water and air they occupy.^[5][4]

Timeline

• 1838 – The TLFi's date for the biological sense “globular atom”.^[2]
• 1842 – The supplement to the Académie's dictionary records it.^[2][6][3]
• 1888 – Suess coins the German Biosphäre.^[2][3][5]
• 1900 – De Margerie's translation of Suess uses it for the part of the Earth where life is found.^[2][3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (ecology, geography) The whole of the living things that develop on the Earth.^[4]
2. The zone occupied by living things, in contact with the lithosphère, the atmosphère and the hydrosphère.^[4][2][6]
3. (obsolete, biology) A hypothetical globular atom once thought to underlie all organized bodies.^[2][5]

Related words

• sphère
• atmosphère
• hydrosphère
• lithosphère

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse