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collagène

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Etymology and origin of the French word collagène

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1867 More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek κόλλα
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French colle
French collagène
English collagen
From the same root
French coller ← colle

Pronunciation

  • /kɔ.la.ʒɛn/[1]

Forms

collagène (plural collagènes)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French colle + -gène,[2][3][4][5] after the etymon of the first element, Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”).[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates it from 1867, as an adjective and noun for a substance that yields glue or gelatine.[7] The earliest quotation in the BHVF is from Cornil and Ranvier's manual of pathological histology (1869), on the substance collagène of the bones;[8] the TLFi's first record is Wurtz's Dictionnaire de chimie (1873), which speaks of substances “to which the name collagens has been given”.[2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it first meant “producing glue or gelatine when heated”, said of substances and fibres;[2][6] as a noun it came to name the protein that makes up most of the intercellular substance of connective tissue.[7][4] The GLLF dates the noun to the Larousse of 1898,[5] but Duval already used it in 1879 for the group of connective tissues.[8] Its derivative collagénose, a disease of collagen in the connective tissue, is recorded in 1956.[2] Etymonline dates English collagen to 1843 and derives it from the French word.[9]

Timeline

  • 1867 – First recorded, according to Rey.[7]
  • 1869 – Cornil and Ranvier write of the substance collagène of bone.[8][3]
  • 1873 – Wurtz's Dictionnaire de chimie uses it as a noun.[2][4]
  • 1879 – Duval uses it of the group of connective tissues.[8]
  • 1898 – The Larousse records the noun.[5]
  • 1956 – Collagénose is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (biochemistry) Collagen, the fibrous protein of the intercellular substance of connective tissue.[4][5][1]

Adjective

  1. (biochemistry) Producing glue or gelatine when heated; collagenous: des fibres collagènes.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • collagénose

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Collagène.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/collag%C3%A8ne. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·