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glacial

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Etymology and origin of the French word glacial

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1380–1390 Evrart de Conty, Problèmes d'Aristote More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin glacialis
Ultimate origin
Latin glaciēs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin glaciēs
Latin glaciālis
French glacial
English glacial
From the same root
Latin glaciō ← glaciēs

Pronunciation

Forms

glacial (feminine glaciale, masculine plural glaciaux, feminine plural glaciales)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin glaciālis (“icy, of ice”), from glaciēs (“ice”).[2][3][4][5] The word is very rare before the 17th century: after an isolated medical use about 1380 it reappears in 1534 and in Montaigne, and was taken up again in 1611.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1380–1390 Evrart de Conty's Problèmes d'Aristote uses humeur glaciale for the crystalline lens of the eye.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Rabelais used Mer Glaciale for the Arctic Ocean in 1534, and Montaigne wrote of contrées glaciales “icy regions”.[2][5][3] The Académie in 1694 still allowed it only in the feminine, in mer glaciale and zone glaciale.[8]

The everyday sense “very cold” is recorded from 1611 (Cotgrave), and the figurative sense “of a freezing coldness” from 1740 (Boissy's froideur glaciale), applied to a person from 1866.[2][3][7] The adverb glacialement (1860) is used only figuratively.[3]

Timeline

  • 1380–1390 – Evrart de Conty uses it for the crystalline lens.[2]
  • 1534 – Rabelais writes Mer Glaciale for the Arctic Ocean.[2]
  • 1580 – Montaigne uses it for “covered with ice”.[3]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave gives the sense “very cold”.[2][7]
  • 1694 – The Académie records mer glaciale and zone glaciale.[8]
  • 1740 – First figurative use, in Boissy.[2]
  • 1860 – Glacialement is first recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Ice-cold, piercingly cold: un matin glacial.[9][10]
  2. Zone glaciale: the zone between the polar circle and the pole, also océan glacial.[9][2]
  3. (figurative) Of a chilling coldness, off-putting: un regard glacial.[9][10]
  4. Il fait glacial: it is very cold.[11][7]

Word family

  • glacialement

References

  1. ^ a b 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 f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Glacial.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/glacial. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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