granit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡʁa.nit/^[1]

Forms

granit m (plural granits)^[1] Granite (1665), kept as the scientific spelling^[2][3]; granit was long pronounced without the final t, rhyming with nid in Hugo.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian granito, recorded in the modern sense from the late 15th century, the adjective “granito” “grainy” used as a noun,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} properly the past participle of granire (“to form grains”), derived from grano (“grain”), from Latin grānum (“grain”), the source of grain.^[3][2][5] The word thus means “grainy stone”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave (1611) has granit oriental for a kind of jasper, an isolated use;^[3][2] the modern sense appears in Thévenot's Relation d'un voyage fait au Levant (1665), of a column tout d'une pièce de granite.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In science granite is a hard igneous rock of feldspar, mica and quartz.^[2][3] By likeness of look, granit named other grainy materials, such as speckled silk (1827) and a grainy fabric;^[2][7] figuratively it stands for hardness and insensitivity, as in cœur de granit.^[2][8]

Granitique, granitoïde and graniteux date from 1783, in Buffon's time.^[2][4] The granité, a granular sorbet, is probably taken from Italian granita.^[2]

Timeline

• late 15th century – Italian granito.^[3][2]
• 1611 – Granit oriental, a kind of jasper (Cotgrave).^[3][5]
• 1665 – Granite (Thévenot).^[3][4]
• 1718 – First recorded by the Académie.^[3]
• 1783 – Granitique, granitoïde.^[2]
• 1827 – A speckled silk.^[7]
• 1840 – Graniter.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Granite, a hard grainy igneous rock of feldspar, quartz and mica.^[8][1]
2. (figurative, literary) A symbol of hardness: cœur de granit.^[8][2]

Word family

• granitique

Related words

• grain
• granité
• English granite

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 238a
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert