filtration

Forms

filtration f (plural filtrations)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French filtrer + -ation.^[2][3][4][1] The verb, first recorded in 1575 in Ambroise Paré, is itself from French filtre,^[2] which was taken from Medieval Latin filtrum, the alchemists' word, the same word as the one behind feutre “felt”.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1578, for the operation of passing a liquid through a filter.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) records the wider sense of a liquid passing through any permeable medium, as water seeps through porous ground.^[2][4] Toward the end of the 19th century it was also used of light rays being filtered.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg date the word from 1611 only.^[5]

English filtration is recorded about 1600, perhaps from the French word.^[6]

Timeline

• 1578 – First record of filtration, for passing a liquid through a filter.^[2][4]
• c. 1600 – English filtration appears, perhaps from French.^[6]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “passage of a liquid through a permeable medium”.^[2][4]
• Late 19th century – It is used of light passing through a filter.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The filtering of a fluid, liquid or gas, through a filter or porous body to remove solid particles or impurities: la filtration de l'air.^[2][4][7]
2. The passage of a fluid through a filter or a permeable medium, as of water through the ground.^[4][7][8]

Related words

• filtre
• filtrer
• filtrage
• infiltration

References

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