détergent

Forms

détergent (feminine détergente, masculine plural détergents, feminine plural détergentes)^[1] The form détergeant is found in 1549.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dētergēns (“wiping off, cleansing”), the present participle of dētergeō (“to wipe off, cleanse”).^[4][5][6][7] Rey sees in it rather the present participle of déterger, itself taken from Latin as a medical term in 1538, as the spelling détergeant of 1549 shows.^[2][3] The Latin verb is formed from dē- and tergeō (“to wipe, rub, polish”), which has no known cognate in the other Indo-European languages.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1549 the surgeon Tagault writes of medicamentz détergeantz, remedies that clean a wound.^[3][2] Cotgrave records it in 1611, as an adjective and a noun, in this medical sense.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries it was a term of medicine, for what cleans a wound or an organ.^[2][8][5] In the 20th century it came to mean a product that cleans by separating impurities; detergent oils for engines were brought into France by the American armies at the Liberation.^[2][3] As a noun it now names a synthetic cleaning substance that emulsifies fats.^[7]

The English word detergent, also first a medical term (1610s), came straight from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1549 – Détergeantz in Tagault's surgery.^[3][2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records détergent as an adjective and a noun.^[6][5]
• 20th century – The noun comes to mean a cleaning product.^[7][6]
• 1956 – Detergent oils are described in a manual of car engineering.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Cleaning by dissolving and carrying away impurities, also détersif.^[7][10][6]
2. Of an engine lubricant: keeping solid deposits and residues dispersed, as in huile détergente.^[6][3]
3. (old medicine) Cleansing a wound.^[5][8]

Noun

1. A detergent, a substance that emulsifies fats, used in washing or disinfecting.^[7][10][3]

Related words

• déterger
• détersif
• détersion
• Latin dētergeō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
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 c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)