embryologie

Forms

embryologie f (plural embryologies)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French embryo- + -logie.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The first element was taken from embryon, which is from Ancient Greek ἔμβρυον (émbruon, “fetus”), from βρύω (brúō, “to grow, swell”);^[7][1] the second goes back to λόγος (lógos, “discourse, science”).^[4] Littré glosses the Greek word as “treatise”.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was first recorded by the Académie française in 1762, in the sense “treatise on the (human) embryo”.^[2][3][6] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1753.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From “treatise on the embryo” the word came to mean the study of the human embryo and its development, as a part of medical studies.^[6] Littré, in 1873, still defined it as a term of physiology: the doctrine of how embryos form and live from the ovule to birth.^[8]

According to Rey, the modern idea of embryology, like that of the embryo itself, took shape in the middle of the 19th century; the word now names the science of the development (ontogenesis) of animal organisms, a central field of general biology beside genetics.^[6][9] In English, embryology is recorded from 1825,^[10] and Rey points to Darwin's use of it in 1851.^[6]

Timeline

• 1753 – Date given by Bloch and Wartburg for the first record.^[7]
• 1762 – The Académie française records it, meaning “treatise on the embryo”.^[2][3]
• 1825 – English embryology is first recorded.^[10]
• 1846 – Embryologiste “embryologist” is recorded.^[5]
• Mid-19th century – The modern concept of embryology takes shape.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Embryology: the science of the embryon and of the development of an organism from the fertilized egg to its finished form.^{[2][4][11][5]}
2. (dated) A treatise on the embryo.^[3][8]

Word family

• embryologiste

Related words

• embryon
• embryogénie
• Ancient Greek ἔμβρυον (émbruon)

References

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