courbure

Forms

courbure f (plural courbures)^[1] Middle French corveure, recorded in the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French courber + -ure.^[2][3][1] The verb comes from Vulgar Latin *curbō, Classical Latin curvō (“to bend”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is the plural corveures in a 15th-century manuscript of Brun de Longborc's Cyrurgie, a surgical treatise, where it is used of the bends of the joints: es corveures des jointures.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date the word only from 1547, when it meant the curved shape of a thing and a curved part.^[5][6] Cotgrave in 1611 glosses it by courbement and English “bought”, a bend,^[7] and the Académie in 1694 defines it as the bending or state of a bent thing, with the curve of a wheel rim, a bow and an overloaded beam as examples.^[8]

Littré records its use in geometry (rayon de courbure, the radius of the osculating circle), in gardening for the bending of an over-vigorous branch, and in architecture for the turned-back leaves of a capital.^[9] Modern dictionaries add its senses in mathematics and physics, as the curvature of a line or surface and the bending of a ray of light.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 15th century – Corveures appears in Brun de Longborc's Cyrurgie.^[2][4]
• 1547 – The GLLF dates the senses “curved shape” and “curved part” from J. Martin.^[6][5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records courbure.^[7]
• 1694 – The Académie defines courbûre as the state of a bent thing.^[8]
• 1873 – Littré lists its uses in geometry, gardening and architecture.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The curved shape of a thing, its curvature.^[10][12][6]
2. A curved part of something: la courbure du dos.^[12][6]
3. (mathematics) The curvature of a line or surface, a measure of how far it departs from a straight line or plane: rayon de courbure.^[10][9]
4. (physics) The deflection of a ray of light.^[10][11]
5. (gardening, dated) The bending of an over-vigorous branch, also called arcure.^[9][12]

Related words

• courber
• courbe
• Latin curvō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
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. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip
8. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)