décoloration

Forms

décoloration f (plural décolorations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēcolōrātiō (“change of colour”), formed on the supine of dēcolōrō (“to discolour”).^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary and the GLLF instead derive it from French décolorer + -ation.^[1][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan descoloracio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1370, in Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, a work of surgery, for a loss of colour.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first applied to a natural process, the loss or weakening of an object's colour.^[4][6] In the 16th century Paré lists decoloration et amaigrissement among the signs of illness.^[7] By metonymy it also means the state of what has lost its colour, and figuratively the dullness of a style.^[2][7] In the 20th century it took an active sense in hairdressing, the bleaching of the hair.^[4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – First recorded in Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[2][8]
• 1503 – The date of first record given by Bloch and Wartburg.^[5]
• 16th century – Paré uses it of a sick person's pallor.^[7]
• 20th century – The sense “bleaching of the hair” appears.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of discolouring or of losing colour; discoloration, fading.^[8][2][1]
2. The state of what has lost its colour.^[2]
3. (hairdressing) The bleaching of the hair: Elle s'est fait faire une décoloration.^[8][6]
4. (figurative) A loss of vividness, as of a style.^[7][2]

Related words

• décolorer
• décolorant
• coloration
• couleur
• Latin dēcolōrātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert