condenseur

Forms

condenseur m (plural condenseurs)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English condenser, which James Watt formed from English condense for the apparatus he invented in 1765; his patent of 1769 says “These vessels I call condensers”.^[2][3][4] The English verb was itself taken from French condenser.^[5][6] Wiktionary instead analyses it as French condenser with the suffix -eur.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1796 in the Nouvelle architecture hydraulique, for the vessel in which steam is condensed.^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1834.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the vessel in which the exhaust steam of an engine turns back into water.^[5][7] Larousse in 1866 records it for the apparatus that condenses town gas to purify it, and in the 20th century it named the part of a refrigerating plant where the refrigerant liquefies and the lens system that lights an object under the microscope.^[5] Metallurgy uses it for a fireclay vessel in which zinc condenses, and it has also been used as a synonym of condensateur.^[2] In English the agent noun condenser goes back to the 1680s, and it gained many technical uses in the late 18th and 19th centuries.^[8]

Timeline

• 1765 – James Watt invents the condenser.^[2][4]
• 1769 – Watt's patent names the vessels condensers.^[2][3]
• 1796 – First French record.^[2][6][9]
• 1834 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word.^[3]
• 1866 – Larousse records it for the gas apparatus.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vessel or apparatus in which a vapour or gas is condensed, especially the exhaust steam of an engine.^{[9][10][11][2]}
2. An apparatus in which a gas is condensed to purify it.^[9][5]
3. In a refrigeration plant, the heat exchanger in which the refrigerant passes from vapour to liquid.^[11][5]
4. (optics) A lens system that lights the object under a microscope.^[9][5]
5. (metallurgy) A fireclay vessel in which zinc condenses.^[2][11]

Related words

• condenser
• condensation
• condensateur

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)