Etymologically
Log in

disque

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

disque m (plural disques)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin discus (“discus, quoit; plate”),[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “discus”),[3][1] which Rey derives from δικεῖν (dikeîn, “to throw”).[3] The same Latin word had given the inherited dais.[1][4] Rey compares German Tisch (“table”), and Littré English desk.[3][6]

The sense “gramophone record” may owe something to English disc (1888).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Choul (1555) uses it for a discus thrower, a sense later taken by discobole;[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg note it was little used before the 17th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

It kept the sense of the ancient athletes' discus, revived in modern athletics.[3][7] By likeness of shape it was used from 1680 of the visible face of a heavenly body and of a lens,[2][3] in botany (1764), in anatomy (1805, disques intervertébraux, 1852) and on the railways for a round signal (1864–1865).[2][8]

The sense “gramophone record” dates from 1900–1918, after rouleau and cylindre;[2][3] the 78 rpm was followed by the long-playing record and, about 1982, by the disque compact.[3] Changer de disque “to change the subject” dates from the 78 era.[3] In computing a disque stores data (disque dur), and the disque de stationnement (1957) is a parking disc.[3][1]

Timeline

  • 1555 – A discus thrower, in Du Choul.[2]
  • 1680 – The disc of a star; a lens.[2]
  • 1805 – A cartilaginous disc, in Cuvier.[2]
  • 1865 – A railway signal.[2]
  • 1918 – A gramophone record, in Maurois.[2]
  • 1928 – Discothèque.[3]
  • c. 1982 – Disque compact.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A discus: lancer le disque.[7][9]
  2. A disc, any flat round object: frein à disque, disque de stationnement.[7][1]
  3. The disc of the sun or moon.[7][9]
  4. A gramophone record; a compact disc: disque vinyle, disque d'or.[3][1]
  5. (computing) A disk: disque dur.[1][3]
  6. (anatomy) A disc: disque intervertébral.[2][1]
  7. Changer de disque: to change the record, stop harping on.[3][1]

Word family

  • discographie
  • discographique
  • discophile
  • discophilie
  • discothèque
  • disquette
  • disquaire

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 93a
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)