comateux

Forms

comateux (feminine comateuse, masculine plural comateux, feminine plural comateuses)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French coma + -eux, with the stem shaped after the oblique stem of Ancient Greek κῶμα (kôma, “deep sleep”).^[2][3][1] The Grand Robert describes it instead as the medical Latin coma with the suffix -ateux.^[4] The noun coma itself is recorded from 1658, borrowed from the medical Greek word, whose proper sense is a heavy, deep sleep.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1616, in a text by J. Duval cited by Delboulle, as a medical adjective relating to coma.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes what belongs to coma or announces it, and the patient who is in a coma; in that last sense it is also used as a noun.^[3][6] Littré records it only as a medical term for what concerns coma.^[7] Writers of the late 19th century used it figuratively for a state of torpor, as Huysmans did in 1898.^[2] The Petit Robert also gives the figurative sense of someone in a state of half-consciousness.^[8]

Timeline

• 1616 – First recorded, in J. Duval.^[2][5]
• 1658 – The base noun coma is recorded.^[5]
• 1898 – Huysmans uses it figuratively in La Cathédrale.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or characteristic of coma: état comateux.^[8][2]
2. Causing coma.^[6]
3. In a coma;^[8] (figurative) in a state of half-consciousness or torpor.^[8]

Noun

1. A person in a coma.^[8][6]

Related words

• coma

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert