colloïde

Forms

colloïde m (plural colloïdes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English colloid.^[2][3][4][5] The English word is formed from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”) and εἶδος (eîdos, “form”), through the suffix -oid, and its coining is credited to the chemist T. Graham, who gave it its exact sense in chemistry in contrast to crystalloid (1861).^[6][2][7] Since English had the word earlier as a medical term (1847–49), the TLFi and Rey conclude that Graham sharpened its meaning rather than invented it.^[6][2] Bloch and Wartburg describe the noun and colloïdal as borrowings of Graham's English coinages, made with the Greek word for glue and the scientific suffix that corresponds to -ide.^[3] Wiktionary analyses it instead as colle and -oïde.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in medicine in 1845, in Bescherelle's dictionary, in cancer colloïde, a cancer or tumour with jelly-like secretions.^[6][2] Littré still knew it only as a surgical adjective in this phrase.^[8]

Semantic evolution

As in English, the medical use came first in French.^[2] The chemical noun followed almost at once, in 1863, in the plural, for substances made of fine particles in suspension, opposed to cristalloïdes.^[6][2] The GLLF dates the noun in its current sense only from Larousse in 1888.^[9] In this sense colloïde is sometimes used as an adjective, competing with colloïdal (1855).^[2][3] The noun colloïdité, the set of properties of colloids, is first recorded in 1929.^[6]

The English word colloid is recorded from 1854, and Etymonline derives it from the French word.^[10]

Timeline

• 1845 – Bescherelle records cancer colloïde in medicine.^[6][2]
• 1855 – The adjective colloïdal appears.^[3][2]
• 1861 – Graham uses English crystalloid and colloid in their chemical senses.^[6]
• 1863 – The chemical noun appears in the plural, in contrast to cristalloïdes.^[6][5]
• 1888 – Larousse records the noun in its modern sense.^[9]
• 1929 – The derivative colloïdité is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry, physics) A colloid: a substance made of very fine particles held in suspension in a medium, which do not pass through ultrafilters; opposed to a cristalloïde.^[6][5][11]
2. A solution in which the dispersed substance stays in suspension without dissolving.^[4]
3. (anatomy) The jelly-like substance, rich in thyroglobulin, that fills the follicles of the thyroid gland.^[11]

Adjective

1. (medicine) Of a cancer or tumour: containing a jelly-like matter, as in cancer colloïde.^[8][6]
2. (chemistry) Colloidal.^[2]

Word family

• colloïdité

Related words

• colloïdal
• cristalloïde
• colle
• -oïde
• English colloid

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 45a
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)