combustible

Forms

combustible (plural combustibles)^[1] Middle French conbustible and combustile.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a derivative from French combustion + -ible, formed on the stem of the noun.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The noun is from Late Latin combustiō (“burning”),^[4][7] from combustus (“burnt up”), the past participle of combūrō.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Evrart de Conty uses chose combustible, a thing that burns, in his translation of the pseudo-Aristotelian Problems, dated about 1380 by the GLLF and to the 15th century by the Trésor.^[2][9][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century Ambroise Paré speaks of the fire going out when its matiere combustible fails.^[10] Rousseau used it figuratively in 1762 for a temperament quick to take fire.^[4][5] As a noun (1793) it named any substance burnt to give usable heat, a very common word that suggests whatever is needed to keep something going.^[5][4][9] In the middle of the 20th century it was extended to the material that gives energy by nuclear fission or fusion.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – Evrart de Conty uses combustible.^[9][2]
• 1390 – Date of first record in the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert.^[6][11]
• 1571 – Combustibilité is recorded, an isolated example before the 19th century.^[4]
• 1762 – Rousseau's tempérament combustible gives the figurative sense.^[4]
• 1793 – First used as a noun.^[4][9][11]
• Mid-20th century – Used of nuclear fuel.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can burn; combustible, flammable.^[11][4][1]
2. (chemistry) Of a substance: able to combine with an oxidizer such as oxygen, giving off heat.^[4][10]
3. (figurative) Quick to take fire, easily roused.^[4][10]

Noun

1. A fuel: a substance burnt to produce heat, such as wood, coal or gas: combustibles fossiles.^[11][9][10]
2. (physics) Material that gives off energy by nuclear fission or fusion.^[9]

Word family

• combustibilité
• incombustible

Related words

• combustion
• comburant

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
3. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2-2, 940a
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert