carbonifère

Forms

carbonifère (plural carbonifères)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French carbone + -fère.^[2][3][4] The suffix comes from Latin ferō (“to bear”),^[5] and the first part goes back to carbō (“coal”).^[2][6][7] The GLLF and Littré analyse the word directly as the two Latin words.^[8][6] The English carboniferous is recorded from 1799.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi dates it to 1838, from the Académie's supplement, meaning “containing coal”, as in terrain carbonifère.^[2][3] The GLLF's first record is Bescherelle (1845), and the BHVF cites the title of a book by L. de Koninck on the fossils of the terrain carbonifère of Belgium (1842).^[8][10]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first described coal-bearing ground.^[2][11] In geology it then named the period at the end of the Primary era, between the dévonien and the permien, when the great coal beds were laid down, and it was made a noun, le carbonifère.^[11][2][4] Littré also records it of a railway built to carry coal.^[6] In this geological sense the GLLF gives the synonym carboniférien.^[8]

Timeline

• 1838 – First record, according to the TLFi and the Grand Robert.^[2][3]
• 1842 – L. de Koninck writes of the terrain carbonifère of Belgium.^[10]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records it.^[8]
• 1932 – The Académie includes it in its 8th edition.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Containing coal: terrain carbonifère.^[4][12]
2. (geology) Of the Carboniferous period.^[2][4]

Noun

1. (geology) Le carbonifère: the Carboniferous, the period of the late Palaeozoic after the Devonian and before the Permian, when thick coal seams formed.^[12][13][4]

Related words

• carbone
• charbon
• carboniférien
• Latin carbō
• English carboniferous

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 358b
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)