dilution

Forms

dilution f (plural dilutions)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French diluer + -tion.^[2][3][1] The TLFi, the DHLF and Wiktionary hold that it was formed in French rather than borrowed from Late Latin dīlūtiō, which meant only “a washing” and, figuratively, “a clearing of oneself”.^[2][3][1] Littré, the Grand Robert and the GLLF derive it from the Latin word itself.^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1833, in the Journal de médecine et de chirurgie pratiques, as a term of homeopathy: the operation of dispersing a substance in ever greater amounts of a solvent.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From homeopathy the word passed to the general sense matching the verb diluer: the action of thinning a substance with water or another liquid, recorded by Landais in 1836.^[2][3][6] By metonymy it also names the result, a diluted substance or solution.^[2][6]

In homeopathy it kept its technical sense of a preparation in which a substance is present in a very small dose, graded as decimal or centesimal dilutions.^[2][6] Littré already describes the homeopaths' practice of repeated dilutions, up to the thirtieth.^[4]

Timeline

• 1833 – First record, as a term of homeopathic medicine.^[2][3][7]
• 1836 – Landais records the general sense “thinning with water”.^[2][6][7]
• 1878 – The Académie admits the word.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of diluting a liquid or a substance, and its result: la dilution d'un sucre dans le lait.^[8][2]
2. (homeopathy) A preparation in which a substance is dispersed in a solvent at a very low dose, and the procedure that produces it.^[2][6][8]

Related words

• diluer
• Latin dīlūtiō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ 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 Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert