glacier

Forms

glacier m (plural glaciers)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Franco-Provençal glacier, recorded in the Vaud in 1332 and in the Valais in 1349, a derivative of the word for ice, French glace, with the suffix -ier.^[2][3][4][5] That noun goes back to *glacia, from Latin glaciēs (“ice”).^[6][7] The Romansh and Valais dialect words for a glacier belong to the same family,^[6] and Wiktionary compares German Gletscher.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In standard French it is first recorded in the Encyclopédie in 1757, which notes that some call glaciers glacières but that glaciers is the more usual name.^[2][3] The GLLF finds an isolated use by Jacques Peletier du Mans in 1572.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The Alpine word long competed with glacière in this sense, until Horace Benedict de Saussure fixed the distinction at the end of the 18th century.^[3][4] From it came glaciériste, first a student of glaciers (1875), and since 1949 a climber who specialises in glaciers.^[3] English took glacier from French in 1744.^[7]

Within French, glacier was also formed from glace in its senses “mirror” and “ice cream”: it named a maker of mirrors from 1741 and a seller of ice creams and refreshments from 1797.^[3][2][9]

Timeline

• 1332 – The Franco-Provençal word is recorded in the Vaud.^[2][3]
• 1572 – Jacques Peletier du Mans uses it.^[8]
• 1741 – Glacier “mirror maker” is recorded.^[3][9]
• 1744 – English borrows glacier.^[7]
• 1757 – The Encyclopédie prefers glaciers to glacières.^[2][3]
• 1797 – Glacier is used of a seller of ice creams and refreshments.^[2][3]
• Late 18th century – Saussure separates glacier from glacière.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A glacier, a mass of ice formed from accumulated snow that moves slowly down a valley or covers polar land.^[9][2][8]
2. A maker or seller of ice creams and sorbets: pâtissier-glacier.^[9][2][5]
3. (dated) A maker or seller of mirrors and plate glass.^[9][2][1]

Word family

• glaciériste

Related words

• glace
• glacière
• glacial
• Latin glaciēs
• English glacier

Usage notes

Dictionaries give the trade name a headword of its own, glacier², since it was formed in French from glace and did not come through Franco-Provençal.^[2][9][4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert