dénominateur

Forms

dénominateur (feminine dénominatrice, masculine plural dénominateurs, feminine plural dénominatrices)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēnōminātor (“one who names”), first recorded in 1484.^[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of dēnōminō (“to name”),^[4][5] itself from nōmen (“name”).^[6] It took its mathematical sense in the 15th century, in Medieval Latin,^[2][5][1] because this term of a fraction names the kind of units counted, while the other only counts them.^[7][2] It belongs to the learned family of nom, beside dénomination and dénominatif.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1484 in Nicolas Chuquet's Triparty, in the phrase denominateur commun “common denominator”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word came into French through the mathematicians and kept its arithmetical sense: the term below the line of a fraction, which shows into how many parts the unit is divided.^[3][2][7] Littré quotes a 16th-century arithmetic book by Estienne de La Roche that already pairs numerateur and denominateur.^[7]

From mathematics the phrase dénominateur commun passed into general use, figuratively, for what different things or people have in common, or for the ground on which they can agree;^[3][5][2] the TLFi quotes Simone de Beauvoir using it in 1958.^[2] The inverted commun dénominateur is also found.^[3] Wiktionary also records the word as an adjective, dénominateur, dénominatrice “denominating”.^[1]

Timeline

• 1484 – Nicolas Chuquet's Triparty has denominateur commun.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Estienne de La Roche's Arismetique pairs numerator and denominator.^[7]
• 1958 – Simone de Beauvoir uses dénominateur commun figuratively, of what all people share.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mathematics) The denominator of a fraction, the term below the line, which shows into how many equal parts the unit is divided: dans 5/8, 8 est le dénominateur.^[8][2][9]
2. Dénominateur commun: a common denominator shared by several fractions.^[8][5]
3. (figurative) Dénominateur commun: a feature that several things or people have in common, or a common ground on which they can agree.^[9][5][8]

Adjective

1. Denominating, that names.^[1]

Related words

• nom
• dénommer
• dénomination
• dénominatif
• numérateur
• Latin nōmen

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 i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)