dynamie

Forms

dynamie f (plural dynamies)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a learned formation from Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis, “force, power”), built on its stem with the suffix -ie.^[1][2][3] The same Greek noun gives the second element of adynamie.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1814 in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Harmonies de la nature, in the sense of a generative power in nature.^[1]

Semantic evolution

In mechanics it named an old unit of work, the force that raises one kilogram one metre in a given time, also called dyname or unité dynamique; the TLFi dates this use to 1830, while the GLLF and the BHVF give Landais's dictionary of 1836.^[1][2][5] Littré also records a medical sense, an increased state of the vital properties of the tissues.^[3] In music it was used from 1908, by Mocquereau, for the intensity of a sound.^[1]

Timeline

• 1814 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre uses it for a generative power.^[1]
• 1830 – First used in mechanics.^[1]
• 1836 – Landais records it as a unit of work.^[2][5]
• 1908 – Mocquereau uses it in music for the intensity of a sound.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mechanics, obsolete) An old unit of work, the force raising one kilogram one metre in a given time.^[1][2][3]
2. (music) The intensity of a sound.^[1]
3. (medicine, obsolete) An increased state of the vital properties of the tissues.^[3]

Related words

• dynamique
• adynamie
• dyne

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF