chlore

Forms

chlore m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós, “green, yellowish green”).^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Littré name the physicist Ampère as the coiner, for the colour of the gas.^[5][6][4] Rey relates it to the English name chlorine, which Humphry Davy gave the element in November 1810, after long debates with Gay-Lussac and Thenard over its nature; the French name followed.^[7][8]

In Greek the word described the green or pale yellow of unripe crops, honey or a frightened face, and also meant “fresh”.^[7] Rey connects it with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ghel-, also seen in Latin helus (“vegetable”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first records the word in Nysten's medical dictionary of 1814;^[2][5][3][6] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF give 1815.^[2][5][3][6] The gas itself had been discovered by the Swedish chemist Scheele in 1774, who called it acide muriatique déphlogistiqué.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

The word names the greenish-yellow gas with a choking smell, one of the halogens.^[2][9] By metonymy it also means compounds of chlorine, especially chloride of lime used as a bleach or disinfectant.^[2] Chlorine was used as a combat gas in the First World War, and then in making soda, solvents, plastics and insecticides.^[7] As soon as it was named it gave chlorure (1815), chlorate (1816) and chloral (1831).^[7]

Timeline

• 1774 – Scheele discovers the gas.^[7][4]
• 1810 – Humphry Davy names it chlorine in English.^[7][8]
• 1814 – Chlore appears in Nysten's dictionary, with acide chlorique.^[2]
• 1815 – Chlorure is formed from it.^[7]
• 1831 – Liebig's chloral is formed with the -al of alcool.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry) chlorine, a greenish-yellow gas with a suffocating smell, chemical element 17, one of the halogens.^[9][2]
2. Chlorine compounds, especially chloride of lime, used to bleach and disinfect: laver le carrelage au chlore.^[2][9]

Word family

• chloral
• chloré
• chlorique
• chlorure
• chlorate
• chlorite

Related words

• chlorophylle
• English chlorine

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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert