Etymologically
Log in

combinaison

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word combinaison

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Semantic loan
First attested
1300s Nicole Oresme, as combinacion More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin combinatio
Ultimate origin
Latin bīnī
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bīnus
Latin combīnō
Latin combīnātiō
French combinaison
Romanian combinație
From the same root
Latin bīnārius ← bīnus

Pronunciation

  • /kɔ̃.bi.nɛ.zɔ̃/[1]
  • /kɔ̃.bi.ne.zɔ̃/[1]

Forms

combinaison f (plural combinaisons)[1] Middle French combinacion, combination; the form combinaison is recorded from 1669.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin combīnātiō (“a joining of two things”), first as combinacion in Oresme in the 14th century.[2][5] The Latin noun comes from combīnō (“to join two things together”), formed from com- and bīnī (“two at a time, a pair”).[6][5] The ending was reshaped after the verb combiner (1669, Pascal): the Robert and Rey call the modern form an alteration of combination,[7][6] and Wiktionary describes it as formed with the suffix -aison on the Latin model.[1]

The sense of a one-piece garment (1895) is taken from English combination (1884).[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Oresme's 14th-century combinacion it meant an assemblage of several elements in a given order.[2] Littré quotes his Éthiques: une conjugacion ou combination qui est faite selon dyametre.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was used in chemistry from 1671,[2][8] and in 1763 (Voltaire) began to be used for the planning of a set of means towards an end, une combinaison politique being recorded in 1810.[2] The GLLF dates combinaison ministérielle to 1845.[8] In mathematics it names each way of choosing a number of objects from a larger number.[3]

Under the influence of the English combination garment, the word named a one-piece undergarment from 1895 in France (1890 in Canadian French), and since 1920 also a one-piece working or combat outfit.[6] An aviator's suit is recorded in 1929.[9] The familiar clipping combine (late 19th century) means both a cunning scheme and the garment.[6][5]

Timeline

  • 14th century – Oresme uses combinacion for an ordered assemblage.[2][4]
  • 1669 – The form combinaison appears in Pascal's Pensées.[2][7]
  • 1671 – It is first used in chemistry.[2][8]
  • 1690 – Furetière records it.[8]
  • 1763 – Voltaire uses it for a concerted plan of means.[2][8]
  • 1810 – Germaine de Staël writes une combinaison politique.[2]
  • 1895 – Bourget uses it for a one-piece garment, after English.[2][6]
  • 1920 – It names one-piece working or combat clothing.[6]
  • 1929 – Larousse records it for an aviator's suit.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A combination, an arrangement of elements in a definite order: une combinaison de couleurs.[3][10]
  2. (mathematics) Each of the ways of choosing a number of objects from a larger set.[3]
  3. (chemistry) The joining of atoms or molecules into a compound, or the compound formed.[3][2]
  4. The combination of a lock or safe.[1]
  5. A set of measures planned to reach an end, a scheme.[2][8]
  6. A woman's slip, an undergarment reaching to the knees.[10][1]
  7. A one-piece outfit combining jacket and trousers, for work or sport: combinaison de plongée (a diving suit), combinaison de vol (a flying suit).[10]

Word family

  • combine

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Combinaison.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/combinaison. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·