contact

Forms

contact m (plural contacts)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin contāctus (“touch; contagion”), from the past participle of contingō (“to touch”), formed with cum on tangō (“to touch”) (see tact).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][1]} In Latin it meant both touch in general and infectious contact, like contāgiō, from the same verb, French only took the general sense.^[3] Two specialized uses come from English: the electrical sense, and the contact lens (about 1950, a calque of English contact lenses).^[3]

Compare Italian contatto.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in 1586 in Suau's treatise on plague and whooping cough, Cotgrave (1611) records it for the touching of two or more bodies.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word was learned, competing with the noun toucher: point de contact in geometry (1753–54), and terms of geology, chemistry and photography.^[3][2][5] The figurative sense, relations between people or peoples, appears in Bonald (1802: contact des mœurs étrangères), probably after English, and spread in the 20th century with en contact avec, au contact de, prendre contact, some first used in the army.^[2][3] In the 1960s–70s, under the influence of the verb contacter (proposed in 1842), un contact became a person one is in touch with.^[3]

Timeline

• 1586 – Suau.^[2]
• 1611 – “Touching of two bodies”, Cotgrave.^[2]
• 1754 – Point de contact.^[2]
• 1802 – Figurative use, Bonald.^[2]
• 1842 – Contacter proposed by Richard de Radonvilliers.^[3]
• c. 1950 – Lentilles de contact.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. contact, touch: entrer en contact avec, au contact de l'air, point de contact.^[9][1]
2. (electricity) A connection, (automobiles) the ignition: mettre le contact, clé de contact.^[3][9]
3. Relations, connection: prendre contact avec quelqu'un, garder le contact, avoir le contact facile.^[3][1]
4. A contact, a person one knows or can call on.^[1][3]
5. Lentilles, verres de contact: contact lenses.^[6][3]

Word family

• contacter
• contacteur

Related words

• tact
• contagion
• contingent
• tangible
• Latin contāctus

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 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 f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 30a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert