glucose

Forms

glucose m (plural glucoses)^[1] The rarer form glycose, made at about the same time, gave way to glucose.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek γλεῦκος (gleûkos, “must, sweet wine”), a learned coinage of the chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot.^[1][5] The TLFi takes it from Greek, influenced by γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”).^[6] Bloch and Wartburg call it a learned derivative of the same Greek adjective,^[2] and the Grand Robert and Petit Robert analyse it as from French gluco- + -ose.^[7][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1838, in a report to the Académie des sciences on a paper by Péligot, as the name of a sugar.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1853.^[2] Its gender was unsettled at first: it was feminine around the middle of the 19th century, Littré in 1866 treated the masculine as a mistake, and Larousse in 1878 noted the masculine as the usual gender.^[3][9] English took glucose from French in 1840; the sugar was first obtained from grapes.^[5]

Timeline

• 1838 – Glucose appears in the Comptes rendus of the Académie des sciences.^[6]
• 1840 – English borrows glucose.^[5]
• 1853 – Date given by Bloch and Wartburg.^[2]
• 1866 – Littré calls the masculine gender incorrect.^[3]
• 1878 – Larousse records the masculine as usual.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (biochemistry) glucose, a sugar with six carbon atoms, widespread in nature and the main source of energy for the body.^[8][6]
2. Glucose obtained industrially from starch, as in sirop de glucose used in confectionery.^[6][8]

Related words

• glucide
• glycémie
• glycose
• Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús)
• English glucose

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF