carnivore

Forms

carnivore (plural carnivores)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin carnivorus (“flesh-eating”), found in Pliny,^[2][3][4][1] a compound of the stem of carō (“flesh”) and that of vorō (“to devour”).^[2][3][4] The Latin noun gave French chair, and the verb dévorer and vorace.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1556, in Le Blanc's translation of Cardano, in les bestes carnivores “flesh-eating beasts”; this is an isolated record.^[2][3] The Grand Robert gives 1536 for it.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was taken up again in 1751 by the Encyclopédie as a term of zoology, both as an adjective and as a plural noun for an order of mammals.^[2][3][6] It was also applied to some fish and insects (1814), in a terminology now out of use, and by analogy to plants, végétaux carnivores (1838–41) and later plantes carnivores.^[2][3] From 1851 it also qualified a diet based on meat, and humorously a person who eats much meat; in very literary use it can describe cruel behaviour.^[2][3] Larousse distinguishes it from carnassier, used of animals that feed only on raw flesh and live prey.^[7]

Timeline

• 1556 – Le Blanc writes les bestes carnivores.^[2][3]
• 1751 – The Encyclopédie takes it up as a zoological adjective and noun.^[2][3]
• 1814 – Applied to fish and insects.^[2][3]
• 1838–41 – Boucher de Perthes writes of végétaux carnivores.^[2]
• 1851 – Cournot uses régime carnivore of a meat-based diet.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Carnivorous: that feeds on flesh: Le loup est un animal carnivore.^[8][7][1]
2. Plante carnivore: a carnivorous plant, one that catches and digests insects or other small animals.^[8][7]
3. (of a diet) Based on meat;^[2][3] (humorous) of a person who eats a lot of meat.^[2][3]

Noun

1. A carnivore, a flesh-eating animal.^[1][7]
2. (in the plural) The Carnivora, an order of mammals with a mainly meat diet and long pointed canines (cat, dog, bear).^[8][7]

Related words

• carnassier
• chair
• dévorer
• vorace
• Latin carnivorus

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